Breaking: Koran-Burning Pastor Headed To New York For Meeting With Ground Zero Imam, Says Son – With Video
Sep 10, 2010 Comments Off Pat Dollard
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The son of Florida Pastor Terry Jones said his father will fly to New York sometime Friday for a meeting with the New York imam behind the planned mosque and cultural center near Ground Zero.
Terry Jones, leader of a tiny nondenominational Florida church, has said he won’t follow through on a plan to burn copies of Islam’s holy text if he’s able to meet with the organizers behind a mosque planned near ground zero in New York.
“We feel like we had the promise the ground zero mosque would be relocated,” said his son, Luke Jones. “That’s what we want to accomplish.”
As of now, he said, plans to burn the Quran are off.
“Right now, it’s still off,” the son said.
A group of Gainesville clergymen brought 8,000 signatures on petitions to the church urging Jones not to burn the Quran.
“We have 8,048 signatures from 97 countries around the world asking Terry Jones to continue to keep his decision not to burn the Quran,” said Rev. Larry Reimer, pastor of United Church of Christ in Gainesville. Luke Jones and two assistant pastors, Wayne and Stephanie Sapp, are all wearing sidearms.
“The FBI’s been here four times,” Luke Jones said. “They told us the threats are very severe and we need to take them very seriously.”
Speaking to NBC’s “Today” show Friday morning, the elder Jones said if he meets with the imam in New York, he won’t burn the Quran. It wasn’t clear whether 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. In Afghanistan, thousands protested the church’s plan to burn the Muslim holy book. At least 11 people have been injured. Protesters also burned an American flag at a mosque after Friday prayers. Jones on Thursday called off his Sept. 11 plan to burn copies of the Quran. Hours later, he threatened to reconsider. Thursday afternoon, Jones said he was swayed by a call from Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the promise of a face-to- face meeting with the Muslim leader behind a planned Islamic cultural center, including a mosque, near the World Trade Center site in New York. Later that day, he accused another Muslim leader of lying to him with a promise to relocate that mosque.
Jones’ plan to burn Qurans had outraged Muslims, and he had been pressured by many, including President Barack Obama, to cancel the plan.
On Thursday, Jones met with Musri and the two held a joint news conference in which Jones said, “We have agreed to cancel our event on Saturday.”
Jones said he will spend the anniversary of 9/11 flying to New York to meet with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the man behind the planned mosque and cultural center.
Meanwhile, the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, which has been criticized for protests at funerals of U.S. servicemembers, said Thursday night that it will burn the Quran and a U.S. flag Saturday although specifics had not been ironed out.
