Relatives of 9/11 victims’ fury over Ground Zero mosque plan

NEW YORK - About 150 angry relatives of the 9/11 victims were involved in a clash with supporters of a proposed mosque near Ground Zero at a community-board hearing in New York.

Holding up photos of family members killed in the Twin Towers and carrying signs such as, “Honor 3,000, 9/11 - No mosque!” opponents of the planned mosque called the plan an insult to the terror-attack victims.

Retired FDNY Deputy Chief Al Santora, whose 23-year-old son, Christopher, was the youngest firefighter to die on the fateful day, opposed the plan saying that it was the burial ground of his son.

“I do have a problem with having a mosque on top of the site where [terrorists] can gloat about what they did,” The New York Post quoted Santora, as saying.

Meanwhile, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the head of the Cordoba Institute, which is in charge of the project, insisted that the site would help to “bridge the great divide” between Muslims and the rest of America.

“We are Americans, we are Muslim Americans. Many of us were born in the United States. We have no higher aspirations that to bring up our children in peace and harmony in this country,” Rauf said.

“Freedom of assembly is the right of all Americans,” he added. (ANI)