Emotions run high at Ground Zero mosque rally

The proposed mosque near New York's ground zero site drew hundreds of fever-pitch demonstrators, with opponents carrying signs associating Islam with blood, supporters shouting "Say no to racist fear!" and American flags waving on both sides.

The two leaders of the building project, meanwhile, defended their plans, though one suggested that organisers might eventually be willing to discuss an alternative site.

But the other, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, said during a Middle East trip that the attention generated by the project was positive and that he hoped it would bring greater understanding.

Around the corner from the cordoned-off old building that is to become a 13-storey Islamic community centre and mosque, police separated the two groups of demonstrators.

There were no reports of physical clashes but there were some nose-to-nose confrontations, including a man and a woman screaming at each other across a barricade under a steady rain.

Opponents of the £64 million project two blocks from the World Trade Centre site appeared to outnumber supporters. Bruce Springsteen's Born In The USA blared over loudspeakers as mosque opponents chanted "No mosque, no way!".

Signs hoisted by dozens of protesters standing behind police barricades read "SHARIA" - using dripping, blood-red letters to describe Islam's Shariah law, which governs the behaviour of Muslims.

Steve Ayling, a 40-year-old Brooklyn plumber who carried his sign to a dry spot by an office building, said the people behind the mosque project were "the same people who took down the twin towers".

Opponents demand that the mosque be moved further from the site where more than 2,700 people were killed on September 11 2001. "They should put it in the Middle East," Mr Ayling said.

On a nearby pavement, police chased away a group that unfurled a banner with images of beating, stoning and other torture they said was committed by those who followed Islamic law.

A mannequin dressed in a keffiyeh, a traditional Arab head-dress, was mounted on one of two mock missiles that were part of an anti-mosque installation. One missile was inscribed with the words "Again? Freedom Targeted by Religion"; the other with "Obama: With a middle name Hussein. We understand. Bloomberg: What is your excuse?"

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has fiercely defended plans for the proposed mosque, saying that the right "to practise your religion was one of the real reasons America was founded".

The mosque project is being led by Mr Rauf and his wife Daisy Khan, who insist the centre will promote moderate Islam.

The dispute has sparked a national debate on religious freedom and American values and is becoming an issue on the campaign trail ahead of the mid-term elections.

Republicans have been critical of President Barack Obama's stance. The president says the Muslims have the right to build the centre at the site but has not commented on whether he thinks they should.

Mr Rauf, in the middle of a Middle East trip funded by the US State Department that is intended to promote religious tolerance, told a gathering at the US ambassador's residence in Bahrain that he took heart from the dispute, saying "the fact we are getting this kind of attention is a sign of success".

"It is my hope that people will understand more," Mr Rauf said.