A man ripped pages from a Koran and lit them aflame at a protest near the proposed site of a community center and mosque near Ground Zero on Saturday.

Smith for News

An unidentified man walks through lower Manhattan after ripping and burning pages from the Koran on the 9th Anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11.

NY Daily News

BY Henrick Karoliszyn AND Samuel Goldsmith

"If they can burn American flags, I can burn the Koran," shouted the unidentified man. "America should never be afraid to give their opinion."

The man was led away by police but did not appear to be arrested.

The display - apparently prompted by Florida Pastor Terry Jones' plan to burn the holy books - occurred as families who lost loved ones during the attacks commemorated the ninth anniversary at Ground Zero.

Hours earlier, Jones told NBC's "Today" that he would not burn Korans and instead wanted to meet with the imam from Park51.

Official demonstrations - sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots and Stop Islamization of America - were slated to start following the Ground Zero ceremony. But protestors on both sides of the controversy arrived mid-morning.

Many held American flags and signs reading "Honor the Fallen. Honor Our Freedoms."

"Muslim and democracy are irreconcilable," said Lance Corey, 61, a retired history teacher from the Bronx. "I have a problem with fundamentalists."

"Muhammad is very intolerant. There's a dark side to Islam. I cannot tolerate intolerance," he said.

Counter protestors also filled the streets near Ground Zero to stand up for the Park51 project.

"This is our country too. We are as much a victim as everyone else," said Mosad Almontaser, 55, of Brooklyn Heights. The school teacher said he moved to the U.S. 40 years ago from Yemen.

"It's very hurtful that a couple of nuts ruined how people see us. We have nothing to do with 9/11," he said.

In Kabul, more than 10,000 Afghans set fire to tires in the streets and shouted "Death to America" for a second day in a row, also prompted by Jones' calls to burn the Islamic holy book.

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