PANAMA CITY, Fla (Reuters) – US President Barack Obama yesterday backed off remarks that appeared to endorse a proposed Muslim cultural centre near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York City, saying he only supported the organizers’ right to build it.

At a White House event on Friday, Obama seemed to offer his support for the construction of Cordoba House near the site known as “Ground Zero” in lower Manhattan. US conservatives and many New Yorkers object to the project.

The 13-storey building will include meeting rooms, a prayer space, an auditorium and a swimming pool.

His Friday comments drew criticism from conservatives and others, and the president sought to clarify them during a trip to Florida yesterday.

“I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making a decision to put a mosque there,” Obama told reporters while visiting the US Gulf Coast.

“I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That’s what our country is about.”

On Friday Obama said he believed Muslims had the same right to practise their religion as anyone else in the United States.

“That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances,” he said.

Many families of those killed in the attacks have mounted an emotional campaign to block the cultural center, calling it provocative and a betrayal of the memory of the victims.

Conservative politicians such as former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich, a Republican former speaker of the House of Representatives, also have called for the project to be scrapped.

Earlier this month a New York City agency cleared the way for construction of Cordoba House.