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n unidentified child photographs visiting Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, left, executive director of the Cordoba Initiative, as he speaks with Bahraini Imam Salah al-Jowder after midday prayers Friday, Aug. 20, 2010, inside a Muharraq, Bahrain, mosque. Rauf, the imam leading plans for an Islamic center near the site of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York, is on a U.S.-funded outreach tour to Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to talk about religious tolerance in America. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

New York - A leader of the proposed Islamic center and mosque two blocks from ground zero says dropping the plan in the face of protest is not an option.

Daisy Khan tells The Associated Press that she and other organizers of the center are closely consulting with American Muslim leaders as the plan moves forward. Khan says she realizes the uproar is affecting Muslims nationwide.

The project has created a national debate over religious tolerance and the Sept. 11 attacks.

Khan said Friday she’s under no pressure to change locations from the political leaders who previously expressed support.

Khan and her husband, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, say the center will promote moderate Islam. Critics say the location is insensitive to 9/11 families.

Rauf is on a Mideast tour funded by the U.S. State Department.

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