-3.1°C Cloudy 
WASHINGTON - Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan says an Islamic community centre and mosque planned near the site of the World Trade Center in New York should be built because Muslims were among those of many faiths who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the buildings.
Farrakhan spoke at the National Press Club in Washington along with a coalition of African-American Muslims. They say the controversy over the building is indicative of a rise in racism toward minorities.
Opponents of the centre say it an an issue of being sensitive to the families of Sept. 11 victims and transparency regarding the funding. Farrakhan says the area is also hallowed ground to blacks who are Muslims.
