Obama backs Ground Zero mosque, slams Pastor Jones

Washington, Sep 11: Amid the raging row over Quran burning and the Ground Zero mosque, President Barack Obama yet again backed controversial plans to build an Islamic centre in New York.

Ahead of the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attack, United States was stirred by a Florida church's plan of burning Qurans to pay tribute to the victims of the al Qaeda suicide attack as well as the row over the proposed Mosque near the site of the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the Sep 11, 2001 terror strike.

Slamming the Florida Pastor, Terry Jones' plans to burn the Muslim holy book and backing the Ground Zero mosque, the President said, "All men and women are created equal, they have certain inalienable rights, and one of those is to practice their religion freely.

"You can build a church on a site, you can build a synagogue on a site, if you could build a Hindu temple on a site, you should be able to build a mosque."

At a White House press conference, Obama said, "We are not at war against Islam. We are at war against terrorist organizations that have distorted Islam or falsely used the banner of Islam."

"If we're going to deal with the problems ... (of) reducing the terrorist threat, we need all the allies we can get," he said, noting that the anti-Islam sentiment will only help the extremists fuel their hatred.

"Al Qaeda, that's what they've been banking on. The overwhelming majority of Muslims are peace-loving - are interested in the same things that you and I are interested in."