World

US marks 9/11 with rituals of sorrow

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-09-12 08:21

Victor Ortiz, 7, waits to hear the name of a grandmother he never met, Sonia Ortiz (in photo on R), who died while working at Windows on the World, the restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center, at the ninth anniversary remembrance of the 9/11 attacks, in New York September 11, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

In Shanksville, Pa., first lady Michelle Obama and her predecessor, Laura Bush, spoke at a public event together for the first time since last year's presidential inauguration. At the rural field where the 40 passengers and crew of United Flight 93 lost their lives, Obama said "a scar in the earth has healed," and Bush said "Americans have no division" on this day.

In New York, the leader of a small Christian congregation in Florida who had planned to burn copies of the Quran to mark the Sept. 11 anniversary called off his plans.

Pastor Terry Jones gave an interview to NBC's "Today" after flying to New York in hopes of meeting with leaders of the mosque and persuading them to move the Islamic center in exchange for his canceling his own plans. No meeting had taken place, he said.

Firefighters from Ladder Co. 10 and Engine Co. 10, which is located directly across from the World Trade Center, pause for a moment of silence at 10:28 a.m., to mark the observance of the time the North Tower of the World Trade Center fell, during 9/11ceremonies marking the ninth anniversary of the attacks in New York, September. 11, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

Nonetheless, "We feel that God is telling us to stop," he said. "Not today, not ever. We're not going to go back and do it. It is totally canceled."

Jones' plan had drawn opposition across the political spectrum and the world. Obama had appealed to him on television, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates in a personal phone call, not to burn the Islamic holy book. Gen. David Petraeus, head of the US mission in Afghanistan, said carrying out the plan would have endangered American troops.

Nevertheless, there were isolated reports of Quran desecrations on the anniversary, including two not far from ground zero.

Afghans, meanwhile, set fire to tires in the streets and shouted "Death to America" for a second day despite Jones' decision to call off the burning. The largest drew a crowd estimated at 10,000.

There were no arrests in New York, police said. There were scattered scuffles in the streets, including one in which a man ripped up another's poster advocating freedom of religion and the second man struck back with the stick.

Near the World Trade Center site, a memorial to the 2,752 who died there played out mostly as it had each year since 2001. Bells were tolled to mark the times of impact of the two hijacked jets and the times the twin towers collapsed.

Assigned to read the names of the fallen, relatives of 9/11 victims calmly made their way through their lists, then struggled, some looking skyward, as they addressed their lost loved ones.

"David, please know that we love you. We miss you desperately," said Michael Brady, whose brother worked at Merrill Lynch. "We think about you and we pray for you every day."

Sean Holohan, whose brother was killed, called out to the 343 firefighters who died: "All of you proved that day to the world that we are still one indivisible nation under God."

Family members of Sept. 11 victims also laid flowers in a reflecting pool and wrote individual messages along its edges.