Imam Rauf New York Islamic centre

Imam Rauf New York Islamic centre, Thousands of people marched through New York on Saturday, on the ninth anniversary of the 11 September attacks, demonstrating both for and against the project. The controversy over the cultural centre and mosque project was inflamed by a row over a Florida pastor's plans, later cancelled, to burn copies of the Koran on 9/11. Imam Rauf New York Islamic centre

On Sunday, Mr Rauf said the Koran-burning would have strengthened radical Islamic extremists and increased the danger of terrorist attacks against the US. He also rejected claims by Terry Jones, the pastor behind the Koran-burning plans, that the bonfire was cancelled after Mr Rauf agreed to relocate the Islamic centre away from New York's Ground Zero.

"How can you equate the burning of any person's scripture with an attempt to build inter-faith dialogue?" Mr Rauf told ABC. "This is a house with multi-faith partners, intended to work together towards building peace."