Koran burning 'suspended but not cancelled'

The pastor who planned an "International Burn-a-Koran Day" on September 11 has said he is reconsidering his decision to call off the protest.

Pastor Terry Jones agreed to cancel the book-burning after he said he was promised that a proposed mosque in New York would be moved away from the site of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Later outside his church in Gainesville, Florida, Mr Jones claimed he was "lied to" after Imam Muhammad Musri, the president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, and the leader of the New York mosque said there was no such deal.

Mr Musri said there was only an agreement for him and Mr Jones to travel to New York to meet the Imam overseeing plans to build the mosque.

He said: "I told the pastor that I personally believe the mosque should not be there, and I will do everything in my power to make sure it is moved.

"But there is not any offer from there (New York) that it will be moved. All we have agreed to is a meeting, and I think we would all like to see a peaceful resolution."

In response, Mr Jones, leader of the 50-member Dove World Outreach Centre, said he was now putting the protest on hold instead of cancelling it.