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Fla. Pastor Plans to Meet NY Imam 09/10 08:45
As thousands of Afghans protested a tiny Florida church's plan to burn the
Muslim holy book, the church's pastor said he won't follow through with the
burning if he's able to meet Saturday with the organizers behind a mosque
planned near ground zero in New York.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- As thousands of Afghans protested a tiny Florida
church's plan to burn the Muslim holy book, the church's pastor said he won't
follow through with the burning if he's able to meet Saturday with the
organizers behind a mosque planned near ground zero in New York.
In Afghanistan, at least 11 people were injured Friday in protests.
Police in the northern province of Badakhshan said several hundred
demonstrators ran toward a NATO compound where four attackers and five police
were injured in clashes. Protesters also burned an American flag at a mosque
after Friday prayers. In western Farah province, police said two people were
injured in another protest.
Speaking to NBC's "Today" show, the Rev. Terry Jones said if he meets with
the imam in New York, he won't burn the Quran. It wasn't clear if he meant the
burning would be halted indefinitely or just for Saturday.
Imam Muhammad Musri, the president of the Islamic Society of Central
Florida, told CBS' "The Early Show" he had a commitment for Jones and himself
to meet in New York with the imam there.
City officials in Gainesville said Friday that no matter what Jones says
he'll do, they planned to stick with their plan to increase security in
response to the event.
Earlier, Jones and Musri had disagreed sharply on the terms of their
agreement.
Jones said Thursday he would call off the planned burning of Qurans based on
a deal negotiated with Musri that the location of a mosque planned near ground
zero in New York would be changed.
But Musri said he was clear on Thursday when he told Jones that he could
only set up a meeting with planners of the New York City mosque. Jones
responded by suggesting that he would go forward with his plan on Saturday
after all.
"We are just really shocked," Jones said of Musri. "He clearly, clearly lied
to us."
For U.S. political leaders and Muslims around the world who have been
outraged by Jones' antics, the on-again, off-again threat bred even more
frustration.
Cleric Rusli Hasbi told 1,000 worshippers attending Friday morning prayers
in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, that whether or not he
burns the Quran, Jones had already "hurt the heart of the Muslim world."
"If he'd gone through with it, it would have been tantamount to war," the
cleric said in the coastal town of Lhokseumawe. "A war that would have rallied
Muslims all over the world."
Muslims consider the book the sacred word of God and insist it be treated
with the utmost respect.
In Afghanistan, where tens of thousands of U.S. troops are in harm's way,
President Hamid Karzai said he heard Jones had perhaps abandoned his
Quran-burning plan.
"The holy book is implanted in the hearts and minds of all the Muslims,"
Karzai said. "Humiliation of the holy book represents the humiliation of our
people. I hope that this decision will be stopped and should never have been
considered."
Previously, Jones had not invoked the mosque controversy as a reason for his
planned protest at his Dove World Outreach Center. Instead, he cited his belief
that the Quran is evil because it espouses something other than biblical truth
and incites radical, violent behavior among Muslims.
Opponents of the New York City mosque argue it is insensitive to families
and memories of Sept. 11 victims to build a mosque so close to where Islamic
extremists flew planes into the World Trade Center and killed nearly 2,800
people. Proponents say the project reflects religious freedom and diversity and
that hatred of Muslims is fueling the opposition.
President Barack Obama urged Jones to listen to "those better angels,"
saying that besides endangering lives, it would give Islamic terrorists a
recruiting tool. Defense Secretary Robert Gates took the extraordinary step of
calling Jones personally.
Outside London's Central Mosque across from Regent's Park, worshippers
chatted, fed geese or posed for pictures Friday by the children's boating pond.
Those interviewed about the threatened Quran burning seemed more upset by the
media coverage of it than the threat itself.
Medhat Singab, a 47-year-old Egyptian-born Briton, said the media was making
a circus of "a church with 30 followers and an idiot."
"They can go on burning the Quran," he said, "It's not going to destroy
Islam."
Jamal Ali, 17, said he was talking about the issue with his friends on his
way to the mosque. The Sudanese-born student said he thought rowdy protests
weren't the right reaction.
Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said the intent to
burn copies of the Quran is Jones' "expression of hatred of Islam" but called
on Muslims to restrain their reactions and not offend Christians in any way.
"This disgraceful act contradicts the very duties of religious and spiritual
leadership to enhance the value of peaceful coexistence and safeguard the
rights and mutual respect among religions," al-Sistani said in a statement
posted on his website Friday.
Jones' church, which has about 50 members, is independent of any
denomination. It follows the Pentecostal tradition, which teaches that the Holy
Spirit can manifest itself in the modern day.
News of the possible cancellation also was welcomed by Jones' neighbors in
Gainesville, a city of 125,000 anchored by the sprawling University of Florida
campus. At least two dozen Christian churches, Jewish temples and Muslim
organizations in the city had mobilized to plan inclusive events, including
Quran readings at services, as a counterpoint to Jones' protest.
Jones said at the news conference that he prayed about the decision and
concluded that if the mosque was moved, it would be a sign from God to call off
the Quran burning.
Part of the pressure exerted on Jones came from Gates who briefly spoke to
the pastor before his first announcement to call it off. Gates expressed "his
grave concern that going forward with this Quran burning would put the lives of
our forces at risk, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan," Pentagon spokesman
Geoff Morrell said.
(KA)
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