Qur'an-burning 'disaster' averted, says New York imam

Feisal Abdul Rauf said the planned burning of copies of the Qur'an in Florida would have 'strengthened the radicals'. Photograph: Ali Haider/EPA
The New York imam at the centre of plans to build an Islamic centre near Ground Zero said today that "disaster" had been narrowly averted over the planned burning of copies of the Qur'an by a Florida pastor.