US Marks 9/11 anniversary:
Obama appeals for tolerance
US: President Barack Obama told a deeply polarized America Saturday
that Islam is not the enemy as sombre ceremonies marked an unusually
tense ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
Moving remembrance ceremonies were held to honour nearly 3,000 people
killed when Al-Qaeda extremists slammed airliners into New York’s World
Trade Centre, the Pentagon outside Washington and a field in
Pennsylvania. But with thousands of people marching in duelling protests
over a proposed Muslim community centre two blocks from Ground Zero and
a Florida pastor triggering demonstrations across the Muslim world with
his threat to burn the Koran, this was the most politicized 9/11
anniversary yet.
Speaking at the Pentagon, Obama addressed the politically explosive
domestic debate that has enraged Muslims abroad.
“As Americans, we will not and never will be at war with Islam. It
was not a religion that attacked us that September day. It was Al-Qaeda,
a sorry band of men, which perverts religion,” Obama said.
He urged Americans not to succumb to “hatred and prejudice,” and
vowed: “Just as we condemn intolerance and extremism abroad, so will we
stay true to our traditions here at home as a diverse and tolerant
nation.”
At Ground Zero, where for the first time reconstruction work is
visibly gathering pace, a youth choir opened the ceremony with the
national anthem.
Vice President Joseph Biden and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg were
among those attending the annual ritual of reading the names of all
2,752 people killed when two hijacked airliners destroyed the Twin
Towers.
New York, Sunday, AFP |