Terry Jones Cancels Quran Burning Event

The leader of a small U.S. Christian church says he has called off his plan to burn copies of the Quran on Saturday.

Dove World Outreach Center pastor Terry Jones (l) shakes hands with Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida in Orlando, 09 Sep 2010

The Reverand Terry Jones said Thursday he called off his protest because he had reached an agreement with Muslim leaders to move the controversial location of a planned Islamic cultural center and mosque in New York. He said the mosque would be moved away from the site of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

A local Muslim cleric who appeared with Jones to make the announcement said he would be traveling to New York to discuss the proposed mosque. But officials connected with the New York mosque project said there was no agreement to move the location.

Jones said moving the planned Islamic cultural center in New York would accomplish his church's goals because, he said, "the American people do not want the mosque at the ground zero location."

Jones heads the small Dove World Outreach Center church in Gainesville, Florida.

U.S. President Barack Obama and other U.S. and international political and religious leaders have spoken out against the plans to burn copies of the Quran. President Obama said publicly burning the Quran would be a destructive and dangerous act.  He called the minister's plan an attention-seeking
 "stunt" that could endanger U.S. troops, but said it is a valid exercise of free-speech rights under the U.S. legal system.

At the end it seems that all this was a publicity stunt by Jones to advertise this cult-society and after receiving all the attention and funds, he calls it off.

Nonetheless, the world sighs a breath of relief as the Jews and Muslims begin celebrating their respective holy days and festivals over the weekend. As for the Christians, most of them were honest enough to refuse this bigotry from Jones from the start.