Salman Rushdie backs Ground Zero mosque but attacks Pastor Terry Jones for threatened Koran-burning

Salman Rushdie backs Ground Zero mosque but attacks Pastor Terry Jones for threatened Koran-burning



The controversial mosque set to be build near Ground Zero has received the backing of author Sir Salman Rushdie.

The acclaimed author who was made the subject of fatwa after publishing the book The Satanic Verses said the row was pointless - because the Twin Towers contained a mosque.

He told the New York Post: 'It's just a stupid argument. Of course they should be able to build a mosque there.'

Praising the U.S. First Amendment rights which guarantee freedom of religious belief, he also criticised Pastor Terry Jones for threatening to burn the Koran.

Support: Sir Salman Rushdie has come out in favour of the mosque but criticised Pastor Terry Jones for threatening to burn the Koran

Strong opposition: Americans travelled from across the country to participate at a rally against the mosque on the ninth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attack on New York

He said: 'I'm not in favour of burning books.'

Sir Salman became a global hate figure for Muslims after writing The Satanic Verses, deemed to be insulting to the Islamic Faith.

Copies of the book were burned by protesters and the issuing of a fatwa meant he faced assassination by extremists.

His words came as it was revealed that a close associate of Rauf has claimed the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an 'inside job'.

Faiz Khan is a founder member of an organisation run by imam Feisal Abdul Rauf promoting a better understanding of Islam.

However, he courted controversy by leaving internet postings on a 9/11 'truth' website which perpetuates conspiracy theories about the devastating attacks.

On the website of the Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth, Khan wrote that 'the inescapable fact (is) that 9/11 was an inside job,' according to the New York Post.
He added: 'The prime factor for the success of the criminal mission known as 9/11 did not come from the quarter known as "militant Islam," although the phenomenon known as "militant Islamic networks" may have played a partial role, or even a less than partial role - perhaps the role of patsy and scapegoat.'
The comments were discovered by the Investigative Project on Terrorism and director Ray locker said: 'For someone who claims he wants the mosque project near Ground Zero to help build bridges and heal the wounds from 9/11, it's odd that one of Feisal Rauf's fellow bridge builders is someone who thinks the attacks that killed more than 3,000 people were an 'inside job' by the U.S. government.'

The suggestion that the U.S. state was involved in the country's deadliest terrorist atrocity will cause further difficulties for imam Rauf who was for a number of years a fellow member of the American Society for the Advancement of Muslims.

The imam has come under immense pressure to shift the site of the Islamic centre away from the proposed site just two blocks from where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre stood.

This weekend on the 9th anniversary of the attacks, a protest was held outside the Burlington Coat Factory building which would be knocked down and replaced with a 13-storey building.

Khan also sent an email to the New York Post on the matter, saying: 'I am certain of a few things . . . The towers and WTC 7 could not have collapsed without controlled demolition place from the "inside". '

Rauf declined to comment on the row but was forced to deny he had acted threateningly when he suggested the mosque's refusal would prompt further extremist attacks.

He said on ABC's This Week yesterday: 'I've never made a threat, never expressed a threat, never. I would never threaten violence ever, because I am a man of peace, dedicated to peace.'

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani also spoke about the Rauf on NBC's Meet the Press programme and said there were 'two imams' in the public eye.

He said: 'The good imam is about reconciliation. He's about being open and transparent about what he's doing and how he's doing it," said Giuliani, who opposes building the mosque near Ground Zero.
'Then there's the bad imam who said America is an accessory to September 11. America has more Muslim blood on its hands than vice versa.'

Time for reflection: A boy kneels in silence at the edge of a reflecting pool filled with flowers during a memorial service at Ground Zero

Remembering the fallen: President Barack Obama pauses during a ceremony at the Pentagon

Making feelings plain: Alyson Low, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, shrugs off the controversy over the planned mosque

 

Sharing pain: Vice President Joe Biden comforts a woman grieving over a loved one lost in the 9/11 attacks

Commemoration: A ceremony marking the anniversary began with a procession of flags that topped the World Trade Centre

Anger: Muslims outside the British Embassy in Manila, Philippines demonstrate in 1988 against The Satanic Verses

Clash: Supporters and opponents of the mosque held simultaneous marches in downtown Manhattan. Predictably, tempers flared when the groups met and police were forced to break up many arguments

Associate: Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who is heading the planned 'Ground Zero' mosque, is facing claims a man he is close to believes 9/11 was an 'inside job'