Damien Cave,Anne Barnard, New York Times
new york times September 10, 2010 04:00 AM
Terry Jones, the Florida minister who set the world on edge with plans to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, said Thursday that he had canceled his demonstration because he had won a promise to move the mosque planned near ground zero to a new location.
But hours later, upon hearing from the project's leaders in New York that no such deal existed, Jones backed away from his promise and said the bonfire of sacred texts was simply "suspended."
The sudden back and forth suggested that the controversy he started - drawing pointed criticisms from President Obama and an array of leaders, officials and celebrities in the United States and abroad - was not yet finished.
Imam's account differs
Minutes after he announced the cancellation alongside Imam Muhammad Musri, a well-known Islamic leader in Florida who had been trying to broker a deal, Musri contradicted Jones' account.
He said that Muslim leaders of the project in New York had not actually agreed to find a new location. "The imam committed to meet with us but did not commit to moving the mosque yet," Musri said.
Even that may not be accurate. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said in a statement that he had not spoken to Jones or Musri, who said later that he received the pledge of a meeting from a worker in Abdul Rauf's office.
On Thursday, FBI officials met with Jones and even Obama waded into the fray, sharply criticizing what he called a "stunt" that would be a "recruitment bonanza for al Qaeda."
Those involved in the Islamic center project in New York offered contradictory stances and opinions Thursday, making it hard to determine whether the parties involved had a common front.
In an interview minutes before Jones made his cancellation announcement, Abdul Rauf, the imam, seemed to suggest that moving the project - at least the part of it that he is to lead, which includes a mosque, prayer spaces for other faiths and tolerance education programs - was not out of the question.
But the imam controls only part of the project, known as Cordoba House, the interfaith and Muslim prayer spaces and tolerance programs planned as part of the larger community center, known as Park51.
Sharif el-Gamal, the head of the real estate group that owns the properties where the project is planned, offered a stronger denial. "We're not moving," he said in an interview.
Plans are in flux
In Gainesville, Jones seemed confused by the differing opinions. At first, after reporters read him Abdul Rauf's statement denying that a deal had been made, Jones said he preferred to believe that the mosque would be moved.
He said he would be very disappointed if that did not turn out to be the case. As for whether he would go back to burning Qurans, he seemed to go back and forth during multiple appearances before the news media. At one he said, "Right now, we are not even entertaining that idea." But later suggested he might reconsider.
To most residents of this college town, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1, Jones has generally been a fringe figure. Last year, he put up a sign outside the church that said "Islam Is of the Devil."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/10/MNNE1FBKOC.DTL
