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Mysterious Group Buys Building Next to Ground Zero For Mosque Wednesday, December 16, 2009 Jim Hoft A mysterous Muslim group with unknown sponsors has purchased a building steps away from Ground Zero. Hudson New York reported: An identified group with unknown sponsors has purchased building steps away from where the WorldTrade Center once stood — to turn it into potentially one of the largest New York City mosques. At the moment the building, the old Burlington Coat Factory, already serves as a mini-mosque: an iron grill lifts every Friday afternoon for a little known Imam leading prayers a few yards...

For a man whom one would hope has nothing to hide, the imam behind the Ground Zero mosque project sure has dropped out of sight. Having triggered an uproar in the U.S., Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf ducked out of the country weeks ago and, apart from a potted statement last week praising his own project, has pretty much clammed up. In New York Rauf has become a sort of phantom celebrity. His name is plastered all over the public debate, but Rauf himself has been absent and oddly unavailable, even by phone or e-mail, to answer questions. From his New...