By DAMIEN CAVE and ANNE BARNARD
Published: September 9, 2010
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who set the world on edge with plans to burn copies of the Koran on Sept. 11, said Thursday that he had canceled his demonstration.
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When a Fringe Figure Becomes News
How should the news media have responded to Terry Jones and his plan to burn the Koran?
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center listened as Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida in Orlando, spoke at a press conference in Gainesville, Fla., on Thursday.
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But the global controversy he started — drawing pointed criticism from President Obama and an array of leaders, officials and celebrities in the United States and abroad — stirred new questions and concerns even as he announced its end (which he later in the day threatened to retract.)
Mr. Jones said he called off the burning in return for a promise to move a proposed mosque in New York City to a new location far from ground zero.
That supposed deal, announced here on the lawn of Mr. Jones’s church, does not appear to exist.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said in a statement that he had not spoken to Mr. Jones or Imam Muhammad Musri, the Orlando, Fla., imam who joined Mr. Jones for his announcement. Even Mr. Musri, after praising Mr. Jones for terminating his plans, contradicted the Pentecostal pastor, noting he had not brokered a deal but rather a meeting.
“The imam committed to meet with us but did not commit to moving the mosque yet,” he said.
The odd disconnect — with Mr. Jones insisting that he alone could take credit for solving Manhattan’s religious dispute, and Mr. Abdul Rauf ’s representatives denying that even a meeting had been agreed to — suggested that Mr. Jones was trying to save face and hold on to the spotlight, even as he abandoned an act that could have made him a widely reviled figure.
In just the past week, the list of his critics had come to include Mr. Obama, the Vatican, Franklin Graham, Angelina Jolie, Sarah Palin, dozens of members of Congress, and Gen. David H. Petraeus, who was among the first to declare that the burning of Korans would put Americans soldiers and civilians in danger.
That risk of violence seemed to be rising, as large protests against Mr. Jones were staged over the past week in Kabul, Afghanistan, and Jakarta, Indonesia. The Obama administration worked furiously to bring an end to Mr. Jones’s plans.
Though Mr. Jones had requested a call from the president, he was contacted instead by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.
Mr. Gates called Mr. Jones around 4:15 p.m. Thursday, interrupting a meeting Mr. Jones was having with Mr. Musri.
The call was brief, Mr. Jones said, adding that Mr. Gates was not the key factor in his decision. What swayed him, he said, was not the risk to Americans or foreigners but rather the promise that the Islamic center in New York would be moved.
“This is for us a sign from God,” he said.
As Mr. Jones walked back into his office, he said that the idea of the mosque as a bartering point came to him only after he had announced his “International Burn a Koran Day” in July. He said he had no regrets.
“We have accomplished what we think God asked us to do,” he said.
Those involved in the Islamic center project in New York offered contradictory stances and opinions on Thursday, making it hard to determine if the parties involved had a common front.
In a brief interview on Thursday, minutes before Mr. Jones made his announcement, Mr. 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.
When asked — without reference to Mr. Jones — whether the comments he made on “Larry King Live” on Wednesday night, that he would not have proposed the project had he known how much strife it would cause, indicated a new openness to moving or some other compromise, he said, “We are investigating that right now, we are discussing it right now, how we can resolve this issue in a manner that will defuse the rhetoric and the pain and also reduce the risk” of emboldening Muslim radicals.
He added: “That is the question we are now asking ourselves. We are weighing various options.”
But the imam only controls one part of the project, known as Cordoba House, the interfaith and Muslim prayer spaces and tolerance programs that are 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. He later issued a statement reiterating that.
In Gainesville, Mr. Jones seemed confused by the differing opinions. Even after reporters read him Mr. Abdul Rauf’s statement denying that a deal had been made, Mr. Jones said he preferred to believe that the mosque would be moved.
Mr. Jones said he called off the burning in return for a promise to move a proposed mosque in New York City to a new location far from ground zero.
That supposed deal, announced here on the lawn of Mr. Jones’s church, does not appear to exist.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said in a statement that he had not spoken to Mr. Jones or Imam Muhammad Musri, the Orlando, Fla., imam who joined Mr. Jones for his announcement. Even Mr. Musri, after praising Mr. Jones for terminating his plans, contradicted the Pentecostal pastor, noting he had not brokered a deal but rather a meeting.
“The imam committed to meet with us but did not commit to moving the mosque yet,” he said.
The odd disconnect — with Mr. Jones insisting that he alone could take credit for solving Manhattan’s religious dispute, and Mr. Abdul Rauf ’s representatives denying that even a meeting had been agreed to — suggested that Mr. Jones was trying to save face and hold on to the spotlight, even as he abandoned an act that could have made him a widely reviled figure.
In just the past week, the list of his critics had come to include Mr. Obama, the Vatican, Franklin Graham, Angelina Jolie, Sarah Palin, dozens of members of Congress, and Gen. David H. Petraeus, who was among the first to declare that the burning of Korans would put Americans soldiers and civilians in danger.
That risk of violence seemed to be rising, as large protests against Mr. Jones were staged over the past week in Kabul, Afghanistan, and Jakarta, Indonesia. The Obama administration worked furiously to bring an end to Mr. Jones’s plans.
Though Mr. Jones had requested a call from the president, he was contacted instead by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.
Mr. Gates called Mr. Jones around 4:15 p.m. Thursday, interrupting a meeting Mr. Jones was having with Mr. Musri.
The call was brief, Mr. Jones said, adding that Mr. Gates was not the key factor in his decision. What swayed him, he said, was not the risk to Americans or foreigners but rather the promise that the Islamic center in New York would be moved.
“This is for us a sign from God,” he said.
As Mr. Jones walked back into his office, he said that the idea of the mosque as a bartering point came to him only after he had announced his “International Burn a Koran Day” in July. He said he had no regrets.
“We have accomplished what we think God asked us to do,” he said.
Those involved in the Islamic center project in New York offered contradictory stances and opinions on Thursday, making it hard to determine if the parties involved had a common front.
In a brief interview on Thursday, minutes before Mr. Jones made his announcement, Mr. 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.
When asked — without reference to Mr. Jones — whether the comments he made on “Larry King Live” on Wednesday night, that he would not have proposed the project had he known how much strife it would cause, indicated a new openness to moving or some other compromise, he said, “We are investigating that right now, we are discussing it right now, how we can resolve this issue in a manner that will defuse the rhetoric and the pain and also reduce the risk” of emboldening Muslim radicals.
He added: “That is the question we are now asking ourselves. We are weighing various options.”
But the imam only controls one part of the project, known as Cordoba House, the interfaith and Muslim prayer spaces and tolerance programs that are 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. He later issued a statement reiterating that.
In Gainesville, Mr. Jones seemed confused by the differing opinions. Even after reporters read him Mr. Abdul Rauf’s statement denying that a deal had been made, Mr. Jones said he preferred to believe that the mosque would be moved.
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