The imam leading an effort to build an Islamic center near the World Trade Center site says the raging debate on whether it should be moved has stoked anti-Muslim feelings.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said in an interview that aired Sunday that the controversy over the mosque site has heightened concerns among Muslims of rising Islamophobia, and fear of Islam is possibly greater than it was immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.
Rauf spoke on ABC News' "This Week with Christiane Amanpour.''
He also says that the project made the front page of papers when it was approved last December and was not questioned, and that it has become a debate for political reasons.
The interview aired one day after the anniversary of the attacks.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
