Bush caps 9/11 tributes with appeal for unity

NEW YORK – President George Bush on Monday wrapped up a day of solemn tributes to the victims of the September 11 attacks with an appeal to Americans divided over the Iraq war to set aside their differences.

In a rare prime-time speech to the nation on the fifth anniversary of the attacks, Bush also pledged to hunt down September 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden “no matter how long it takes”. Bush’s speech capped a day marked by tearful tributes to the nearly 3 000 people who lost their lives when 19 members of bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network hijacked commercial airliners and turned them into missiles.Solemn ceremonies under clear skies in New York highlighted the commemorations held across the United States and around the globe.A hush fell over Ground Zero, where the World Trade Centre once stood, as a minute of silence was observed at 8:46 am (1246 GMT), the moment when a plane slammed into the first of the Twin Towers.Hundreds of families and friends of those who died attended a ceremony at the gaping hole in lower Manhattan to read the names of the 2 749 people who perished there.Accompanied by the mournful sound of a solo cello, tearful families, some clutching photographs of their loved ones, read the names and lay floral tributes in the reflecting pools that stand in the construction site.”To my fiancee, my love and my best friend, my guardian angel, I miss you,” said one woman.”My love for you is eternal,” stuttered another woman, holding back tears.They paused in silence four times to mark the exact moments the hijackers flew jets into the buildings and the shocking seconds when the massive towers collapsed in choking clouds of dust and rubble.Nampa-AFPBush’s speech capped a day marked by tearful tributes to the nearly 3 000 people who lost their lives when 19 members of bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network hijacked commercial airliners and turned them into missiles.Solemn ceremonies under clear skies in New York highlighted the commemorations held across the United States and around the globe.A hush fell over Ground Zero, where the World Trade Centre once stood, as a minute of silence was observed at 8:46 am (1246 GMT), the moment when a plane slammed into the first of the Twin Towers.Hundreds of families and friends of those who died attended a ceremony at the gaping hole in lower Manhattan to read the names of the 2 749 people who perished there.Accompanied by the mournful sound of a solo cello, tearful families, some clutching photographs of their loved ones, read the names and lay floral tributes in the reflecting pools that stand in the construction site.”To my fiancee, my love and my best friend, my guardian angel, I miss you,” said one woman.”My love for you is eternal,” stuttered another woman, holding back tears.They paused in silence four times to mark the exact moments the hijackers flew jets into the buildings and the shocking seconds when the massive towers collapsed in choking clouds of dust and rubble.Nampa-AFP