14/08/2010 11:36
Obama supports plan to build a mosque near Ground Zero
US President Barack Obama has supported the plan to build a mosque near the site of the 2001 terror attacks in New York, speaking before a group of Muslim guests at a Ramadan dinner at the White House.
His remarks came on Friday after weeks of the White House sidestepping the debate that has roiled New York and the nation since developers announced plans to build a $100 million, 13-story mosque and Islamic cultural center just two blocks from the World Trade Center site.
This plan met strong opposition and criticism among people who had said that the proposed mosque near Ground Zero is offensive and have raised questions about the source of its funding.
The September 11 attacks (often referred to as September 11th or 9/11) were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. Terrorists crashed two airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone nearly 3,000 people.