Imam defends planned Ground Zero mosque

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NEW YORK, May 21 (UPI) -- An imam planning a 13-story Islamic community center near Ground Zero in New York says it will help eliminate terrorism, not encourage it.

"We want to rebuild this community," Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said after meeting with city leaders, the New York Daily News reported. "This is about moderate Muslims who intend to be and want to be part of the solution."

The meeting came a day after Tea Park Express Chairman Mark Williams said the project would be a monument to the Sept. 11 terrorists.

Rauf said he was "surprised by the lies, by the bigotry" of the claim.

"We condemn terrorists. We recognize it exists in our faith, but we are committed to eradicate it," Rauf said.

Cordoba House is to include a mosque, fitness center, pool, classrooms, kitchens and a theater for lectures and performances.

The project has won widespread support among lower Manhattan politicians.

"There's been a tremendous amount of bigotry associated with this," said Community Board 1 President Julie Menin. "If we've learned any lesson from 9/11, it's to respect people's religious freedoms."

"Our city's open to anybody, no matter what your religion is," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

But Patrick Bahnken, head of the union that represents paramedics, said the center would be "like salt in the wound -- a constant reminder of what they did to us on 9/11."