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Miss USA 2010 Comes Out Against Mosque Plan

Donald Trump and Rima Fakih, winner of the Miss USA 2010 Pageant, on May 16, 2010, in Las Vegas. (Photo by Tom Donoghue/PictureGroup)
Donald Trump and Rima Fakih, winner of the Miss USA 2010 Pageant, on May 16, 2010, in Las Vegas. (Photo by Tom Donoghue/PictureGroup) AP Images

NEW YORK (CBS) Miss USA Rima Fakih, the first Muslim to wear the crown, has come out against putting the the Cordoba Mosque in downtown New York, near ground zero.

The 24-year-old beauty queen from of Dearborn, Mich., reportedly told "Inside Edition" over the weekend that the planned mosque near Ground Zero is insensitive to 9/11 victims. She was not among the 15 finalists at the Monday televised pageant, though she did appear in a golden eagle country costume.

Pictures: Miss USA 2010
Pictures: Miss Universe 2010

"We should be more concerned with the tragedy than religion," said Fakih, who was born in Lebanon but lived in New York until after graduating from high school and enrolling at the University of Michigan.

While she agrees with President Obama on "the statement on Constitutional rights of freedom of religion," she said she also thinks it "shouldn't be so close to the World Trade Center."

Fakih also told the Detroit Free Press last week that she is fasting this month for Ramadan despite her hectic schedulea at the Las Vegas pageant. Since her victory in May, Fakih has been the focus of intense attention around the world.

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