US remembers 9/11 attacks on 7th anniversary

Washington, Sep 11: On Thursday, Sep 11 Americans will remember the in-famous World Trade Center terror attack which killed more that 3000 people seven years ago. The New York city will observe the anniversary with renewed calls for vigilance against the constant threats of new terrorist attacks. Names of the dead will be read yet again.

John McCain and Barack Obama, the US presidential nominees of Republican and Democratic parties will attend ceremonies at Ground Zero, site of the destroyed Twin towers. Both candidates have agreed to call off their election rhetoric and suspend campaign television ads on that day out of respect for the dead from the 9/11 attacks, which targeted New York and Washington. McCain and Obama issued a joint statement this week: "All of us came together on 9/11 - not as Democrats or Republicans but as Americans. We were united as one American family. On Thursday, we will put aside politics and come together to renew that unity."

On the seventh anniversary emphasis is on to educate the new generations about the terrorist threat and the way families of the victims survive the loss of loved ones.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed when four planes were hijacked and flown into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania on Sep 11, 2001, including 300 firefighters and police trapped after rushing into the towers to save the thousands of people working inside. The trauma has lingered with thousands of New Yorkers who lost friends or relatives or who continued to suffer mentally or physically.

US President George W Bush wull dedicate a a new memorial for the 184 people who died at the Pentagon. The memorial in Washington was built at a cost of $22m (£12.6m; 15.8m euros) on a 1.9-acre (0.77-hectare) parcel of land within view of the crash site. A moment of silence will be observed on the South Lawn of the White House at 08:46 (12:40 GMT)the time that the first of the two passenger planes hit the World Trade Center.

Sources