* Mosque developers refuse to rule out funding from Iran
* Obama: I have 'no regrets' over Ground Zero mosque
* 9/11 crews seek £4.6bn compensation as £70 mosque controversy rages
* Poll puts New Yorkers 2-1 against proposal
* Construction due to begin on September 11 next year
* Call to investigate how opposition campaign is being funded
Americans increasingly are convinced - incorrectly - that President Barack Obama is a Muslim.
Nearly one in five people, or 18 per cent, said they think Mr Obama practices Islam.
Even more alarmingly, that number is up from the 11 per cent who said so in March 2009, according to a poll released today.
The proportion who correctly say he is a Christian is down to just 34 per cent.
At risk: Police wear dust masks as they work in the rubble of the twin towers on September 12, 2001
This aerial photo shows the New York city block, lower right, where a 13-storey mosque is planned for construction two blocks north of the World Trade Centre site, centre left
The proposed site of the cultural centre near Ground Zero in New York, which will include a mosque
The largest share of people, 43 per cent, said they don't know his religion, an increase from the 34 per cent who said that in early 2009.
The survey, conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center and its affiliated Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, is based on interviews conducted before the controversy over whether Muslims should be permitted to construct a mosque near the World Trade Center site.
The poll emerged as the mosque developers refused to rule out accepting funding for the plan from Iran and Saudi Arabia.
When asked, spokesman Oz Sultan said 'I can't comment on that'.
Last night Mr Obama said he has 'no regrets' over the comments he made about the right of Muslims to build an Islamic centre near Ground Zero.
He was asked about his comments while he was concluding a meeting with the public on the economy in Ohio yesterday.
Mr Obama sparked outrage from Republicans and the families of 9/11 victims after supporting the right of developers to build the mosque.
He inserted himself into the debate over the mosque last week when he said Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in the U.S.
A day later, he told reporters that he wasn't endorsing the specifics of the mosque plan.
Emergency crews who dealt with the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks have condemned his support for a mosque near Ground Zero and accused him of deserting them.
New York firemen, police and ambulance workers said the President was happy to speak up for Muslims but not support the crews in their fight for decent healthcare.
Since the terrorist attack by Islamic extremists, many who risked their lives saving others have been plagued by serious health problems. A bill which would give them £4.6billion compensation is stuck in Congress.
Their call came as a poll showed that Mr Obama was deeply out of step with the American people in his backing of the mosque, which will be two blocks from where the twin towers once stood.
According to the Siena Research Institute poll, 63 per cent of New Yorkers polled were against its construction and just 27 per cent were for it. But in the same poll a similar margin - 64-to-28 per cent - said the developers had the constitutional right to built it.
The mosque, previously called Cordoba House but now known as Park51, will be a 13-storey Muslim community centre costing £70million which will include a swimming pool, gym, theatre and sports facilities.
Construction is due to begin on September 11 next year - the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack.
Mr Obama last week came out in support of the right of Muslims to build a mosque on the site and last night repeated that he had ‘no regrets’ about becoming involved in the row.
But 9/11 emergency workers said it contrasted with their requests for intervention over their healthcare.
According to the Siena Research Institute poll, 63 per cent of New Yorkers polled were against its construction and just 27 per cent were for it. But in the same poll a similar margin - 64-to-28 per cent - said the developers had the constitutional right to built it.
The mosque, previously called Cordoba House but now known as Park51, will be a 13-storey Muslim community centre costing £70million which will include a swimming pool, gym, theatre and sports facilities.
Construction is due to begin on September 11 next year - the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack.
Mr Obama last week came out in support of the right of Muslims to build a mosque on the site and last night repeated that he had ‘no regrets’ about becoming involved in the row.
But 9/11 emergency workers said it contrasted with their requests for intervention over their healthcare.
John Feal, who heads the Fealgood Foundation supporting emergency workers, said the plight of the Ground Zero workers and their diseases brought on by the toxic cloud over the twin towers had been sidelined.
‘Why have you failed us? We thought you would be our champion,’ he wrote in a letter
to Mr Obama. ‘It is disturbing that you have the time and energy to speak in favour of the mosque, but not on the health crisis caused by the attacks.’
The rescuers want Mr Obama to show support for the £4.6billion Zadroga 9/11 health and compensation bill which will guarantee payments to workers who are suffering as a result of 9/11 rescue efforts.
Last month it was rejected by Congress amid accusations by the Republicans that it was a cash grab by New York.
Yesterday there were renewed calls for an investigation into how the mosque will be paid for. Reports suggest it may be funded by cash from regimes with questionable stances on terrorism.
And Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, called for an investigation into those opposing the mosque plans.
She told a San Fransisco radio station: 'There is no question there is a concerted effort to make this a political issue by some. And I join those who have called for looking into how... this opposition to the mosque is being funded.'
But her campaign was immediately rejected by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as 'un-American'.
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