US Politics: Florida Pastor Misunderstands "Sign from God", Postpones Burn-a-Koran Day

Headline developments in the US yesterday, as Terry Jones, the pastor of a small Florida church, said he was cancelling tomorrow's Burn-a-Koran Day because he had a "sign from God" that the Park 51 Islamic Community Center, proposed on a site 2 1/2 blocks from the World Trade Center in New York City, would be moved.

Unfortunately, the line between God and Jones was a bit erratic, as the Islamic Center's organisers quickly said that they had made no such promise.

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Jones then said that he was only postponing his Koran burning.

Jones had made his cancellation announcement after a meeting with Imam Muhammad Musri, an Islamic leader in Florida. Although Musri was alongside Jones at the press conference, he soon said that Park 51's leaders had not agreed to find a new location: “The imam committed to meet with us but did not commit to moving the mosque yet.”

Jones also received a phone call from Defense Secretary Robert Gates during his meeting with Musri. Earlier in the day, President Obama had said the Koran burning would be "a recruitment bonanza from Al Qa'eda".

Throughout the week, Jones' plan had been denounced by US officials, including Hillary Clinton and General David Petraeus, the commander of American forces in Afghanistan, who said it would endanger his troops.