US ceremonies mark 9/11 anniversary

The names of nearly 3,000 victims killed in the worst terror attack in US history were read out before President Barack Obama spoke to the nation.

“Our country is safer, and our people are resilient,” he said in a ceremony on the White House’s south lawn.

But many felt that last year’s 10th anniversary was an emotional turning point for public mourning. For the first time, elected officials were not speaking at the New York ceremony.

“I feel much more relaxed this year,” said Jane Pollicino, who came to remember her husband who was killed. “It’s another anniversary that we can commemorate in a calmer way, without that 10-year pressure.”

Thousands had attended the ceremony in New York in previous years, including last year’s milestone 10th anniversary. Fewer than 500 family members had gathered this year.

As bagpipes played at the new September 11 memorial in New York, families bowed their heads in silence at 8.46am, the moment that the first hijacked jet crashed into the trade centre’s north tower, and again to mark the crashes into the second tower, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.

More than four million people have visited the memorial in the past year. On Tuesday, much of downtown Manhattan bustled like a regular weekday, except for clusters of police and emergency vehicles on the borders of the site.

Yasmin Leon, whose sister was killed at the Trade Centre, said there was a sense of closure this year now that the September 11 memorial – twin reflecting pools surrounded by victims’ names - was open to the public.

“This year, we’re just here to reflect,” she said.

Allied military forces marked the anniversary at a short ceremony at Nato’s headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan.