GAINESVILLE — The pastor of a Gainesville church said late this afternoon that he is canceling plans to burn copies of the Quran on Saturday. In return, Dove World Outreach Center Pastor Terry Jones said, he's been assured that the controversial Islamic center planned near Ground Zero in New York City will be moved elsewhere. It could not immediately be confirmed that the New York religious center was indeed being relocated. But Jones said he receives those assurances indirectly through Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, who has met with him in the past couple of days seeking to defuse the situation. Earlier today, Musri had said Jones indirectly linked his church's plans to burn copies of the Quran Saturday with the mosque plans during a meeting he had with Musri Wednesday. Musri said Jones indicated that stopping plans for the mosque would also stop his intention of burning copies of the sacred Islamic text. "He has mentioned that if the project is put on hold that he would not move forward," Musri said. Musri, who said he believes the proposed New York mosque project should be moved away from Ground Zero, said he has been in contact with New York Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf's office and plans to offer Jones the opportunity to meet with Rauf if he cancels the church's plans to burn the Quran. Musri told reporters of Jones' sentiments this afternoon after he showed up at the Gainesville church again for an unscheduled meeting with the pastor, who has been at the center of international controversy since he declared he and the 50 members of his church planned the Quran burning in commemoration of the Sept. 11 attacks. Church leaders throughout the week have said that Jones and his members were still praying about whether they would go through with the burning. There were rumors outside the church earlier that Jones would not cancel the plans until he received a call directly from President Obama, but Dove Outreach Assistant Pastor Warren Sapp neither confirmed or denied the rumors this afternoon. "What I can say is that we are constantly rethinking. We're constantly in prayer, and if God tells us not to do it, then we won't do it," he said. Sapp said Jones would be speaking to the media sometime this afternoon but did not specify a time. Musri and a member of his mosque were still waiting outside the church to meet with Jones this afternoon. Musri brought with him what he called a gift -- a full-page ad his mosque took out in the Orlando Sentinel newspaper in 2004 condemning the Sept. 11 attacks. "I want to show him that we in the Islamic community have been against these acts of terrorism long before this came up," Musri said. Musri said that in his prior conversation with Jones, he pointed out the similarities in their faiths and asked him what Jesus would do if he were the pastor. His one visit was one of several to the church today. About half of those who showed up were turned away, including a group of three pastors representing 48 Baptist churches in the Gainesville area. They had wanted to tell him that burning the Quran would endanger not just the lives of soldiers abroad, but also of Christian missionaries in the Muslim world. "I think it's a shame the church is getting so much attention," said Bob Casey, a former state representative and a member of the Santa Fe River Baptist Association. "Not only is there the potential danger, but thousands of local, county, state and federal dollars are now being spent on this." This morning, the pastor did accept a visit from FBI officials, who left without comment just before noon. Sapp confirmed the visitors were from the FBI but did not give other details.

Attached Images

	Picture 120.jpg (89.3 KB)
	Picture 121.jpg (87.7 KB)

Attached Images

TV-anywhere-plus_box_.jpg (45.4 KB)

Attached Images

K100LT 1988stockphoto.jpg (58.3 KB)

Attached Images

	124+P HST Test 001.jpg (52.3 KB)
	124+P HST Test 002.jpg (45.8 KB)

Attached Images

planes.jpg (94.7 KB)

Attached Images

IMG_4564.jpg (29.8 KB)