US marks 9/11 anniversary amid Koran-burning row

[Jeffersons Ghost]

The US is marking nine years since 9/11 amid controversy over plans for an Islamic center near Ground Zero and a threat to burn the Koran.

In New York, relatives read out the names of those who died when hijacked airliners hit the World Trade Center. At the Pentagon, also hit by a hijacked plane on 9/11, President Barack Obama said the US was not at war with Islam.

Earlier, the pastor behind the threat to burn Korans in Florida said the event had been cancelled permanently. "We will definitely not burn the Koran, no," the Reverend Terry Jones told NBC's Today show. "Not today, not ever."

Later on Saturday, rival protests began close to Ground Zero, by groups opposed to or supporting the building of a controversial Islamic cultural centre in the area.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11269681