We’re not at war with Islam: Obama

“As Americans we are not — and never will be — at war with Islam,” he said. “It was not a religion that attacked us that September day — it was al-Qaeda,a sorry band of men which perverts religion.”

In years past,the day was devoted to remembrances of the nearly 3,000 who died,in New York City and in Pennsylvania,and to vows to serve in their honour and continue to pursue the terrorists behind the attacks. This year,the common bonds rekindled by the memory of the attacks threaten to fray amid growing suspicion of Muslims in the US and controversies about a mosque planned near Ground Zero and a pastor’s threat to burn the Koran.

As Obama,joined by Defence Secretary Robert Gates,laid a wreath at the Pentagon memorial where American Airlines Flight 77 crashed,New York City braced for protests for and against the proposed Islamic cultural center.

“The highest honour we can pay those we lost,indeed our greatest weapon in this ongoing war,is to do what our adversaries fear the most,” Obama said. “To stay true to who we are,as Americans; to renew our sense of common purpose; to say that we define the character of our country,and we will not let the acts of some small band of murderers who slaughter the innocent and cower in caves distort who we are.”

Obama did not mention the New York City mosque,or the Florida pastor,but his message was clear. “We champion the rights of every American,including the right to worship as one chooses — as service members and civilians from many faiths do just steps from here,at the very spot where the terrorists struck this building,” he said.

Obama also has sought to cast September 11 as a day of service to others,and he participated himself by traveling to the Ronald H Brown Middle School in northeast Washington to take part in Armed Services YMCA: Operation Kid Comfort.

First lady Michelle Obama appeared with Laura Bush in Shanksville,Pennsylvania,where the fourth plane crashed. Vice-President Joe Biden and his wife,Jill,were in New York for the ceremony at Ground Zero.

“May the memory of those who gave their lives here continue to be an inspiration to you and an inspiration to all of America,” Michelle said,thanking Bush for helping the country through the aftermath of September 11.

Families of September 11 victims recited loved ones’ names through tears. Chants of protesters both for and against the Islamic centre were expected after an observance known for a sad litany of families reading names of loved ones lost in the attacks. Family members gathering at observances in New York and Pennsylvania brought flowers,pictures of loved ones,but no signs of opposition or support for the mosque.

Moments of silence were held at 8.46 am,9.03 am,9.59 am and 10.28 am to mark the times the hijacked jetliners hit the north and south towers of the World Trade Center,as well as the times they collapsed.

We feel God is telling us to stop: pastor

New York: Terry Jones,the Florida pastor who made the threat,flew to New York on Friday night and appeared Saturday on NBC’s Today show. He said his church would not burn the Koran,a plan that inflamed much of the Muslim world and drew a stern rebuke from Koran.

“We feel that God is telling us to stop,” he told NBC. Pressed on whether his church would ever burn Koran,he said: “Not today,not ever. We’re not going to go back and do it. It is totally cancelled.”

Lending credence to his comments,a ‘Burn a Koran Day’ banner outside his church was taken down.

Still,protests continued on Saturday in Afghanistan,where most people were unaware of Jones’ decision. Police fired warning shots to prevent protesters from storming the governor’s residence in Puli Alam in Logar province,officials said. Villagers set fire to tyres and briefly blocked a highway to Pakistan,a provincial spokesman said.

Jones said that he flew to New York in the hopes of meeting with leaders of the Islamic centre but that no such meeting was scheduled.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf,leader of the planned mosque,said on Friday that he was “prepared to consider meeting with anyone who is seriously committed to pursuing peace” but had no meeting planned with Jones.