Jesse Jackson plans rally against foreclosures

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cvil rights activist Jesse Jackson will hold a rally on Wall Street next week to persuade the financial community to help people who are foreclosing on their homes amid a deepening mortgage crisis.

Jackson wants financial leaders to restructure mortgage plans for people who risk losing their homes because they are falling behind in their payments, he said in a statement.

"Two million homes nationwide will be at risk of foreclosure by 2008," Jackson said in a statement. "Most foreclosures result from shady products that have been offered by subprime lenders ultimately financed by Wall Street."

The December 10th rally, one of several across the United States, will be sponsored by Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Urban League, Jackson said in a statement.

The U.S. government backs a plan that would freeze interest rates for some borrowers whose home payments are rising sharply after taking out loans with adjustable interest rates.

(Reporting by Robert MacMillan, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)