NEW YORK N.Y. (WTAQ) - A Florida pastor's plans to hold a Koran burning on September 11th are apparently off for now, but could be coming back.
Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville announced Thursday afternoon he has called off the burning because an agreement has been reached to relocate the Islamic Center that's planned for a site near Ground Zero.
However, sources close to the imam of the center, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, say no such agreement has been made. The apparent broker of the deal, Imam Muhammad Musri of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, remarked that he has a commitment from Rauf's office to have a three-way discussion.
Musri said those talks between Rauf, Jones and himself would deal with the prospect of moving the mosque to a place that won't be controversial. The developer of the Islamic center has issued a statement saying the project is moving forward.
But just hours later, Jones said Musri "clearly, clearly lied to us."
"Given what we are now hearing, we are forced to rethink our decision," Jones said. "So as of right now, we are not canceling the event, but we are suspending it."
Jones didn't say whether the Koran burning could still be held Saturday, but he expected Musri to keep his word and expected, "the imam in New York to back up one of his own men."
After Jones accused him of lying, Musri said the pastor "stretched my words" at the press conference.
"I think there was no confusion to begin with. When we stepped out of the church, we had an agreement to meet in New York," Musri said. He added that Jones "said his main reason for stopping the event was that it would endanger the troops overseas, Americans traveling abroad and others around the world."
