Updated

The Florida pastor who backed down from a threat to burn the Quran on Sept. 11 has led a few dozen protesters to the site of a proposed mosque near ground zero.

Terry Jones expressed sympathy on Tuesday for 9/11 victims' families. But he also spoke out against the radical Islam he said was the cause of their deaths.

Jones says he doesn't know whether those planning the mosque and Islamic cultural center are radicals.

He says he hopes they choose not to build the mosque there, just as he decided not to burn the Islamic holy book.

The Gainesville, Fla., pastor says he has nothing against peaceful Muslims.

Some of Jones' supporters identified themselves as Coptic Christians from Egypt, saying they had fled persecution because of their religion.