A New York city agency on August 3 cleared the way for construction of a Muslim cultural centre near the site of the September 11 attacks. In a case that triggered national debate, the City Landmarks Commission voted unanimously to deny landmark status for an old building on the site of the planned centre. At least one more legal challenge looms but the commission’s ruling will clear the way for construction of the Cordoba House, which will include a prayer room and a 500-seat auditorium as part of a 13-story Muslim cultural complex. The plan is being pushed by Kuwaiti-born Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and will cost $100 million.
Newsweek editor Fareed Zakaria has returned an award he received from the Jewish group Anti-Defamation League over its opposition towards the proposed mosque at Ground Zero in New York, reports said on August 7. The Hubert H Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize was presented to him in 2005. “I was thrilled to get the award from an organisation that I had long admired. But I cannot in good conscience keep it anymore. I have returned both the handsome plaque and the $10,000 honorarium that came with it. I urge the ADL to reverse its decision. Admitting an error is a small price to pay to regain a reputation,” The Indian-origin editor wrote in a letter to ADL.