World marks 9/11 with reflection, prayers

Christine Corday puts final touches on the name panels on the north pool at the National September 11 Memorial before a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the attacks at the World Trade Center site Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011 in New York. / AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A mother in Malaysia greeted her dead son. People in Manila left roses for the victim who helped give them homes. And mourners in Tokyo stood before a piece of steel from ground zero, remembering the 23 bank employees who never made it out alive.

A decade after 9/11, the day that changed so much for so many people, the world's leaders and citizens paused to reflect Sunday. But there were also those — including a former Malaysian prime minister — who reiterated old claims that the U.S. government itself was behind the attacks.

From Sydney to Paris, formal ceremonies paid tribute to the nearly 3,000 who perished from more than 90 countries. And, in a reminder that threats remain, Swedish police said four people were arrested Sunday on suspicion of preparing a terror attack as authorities in Washington and New York beefed up security in response to intelligence about possible plans for a car bomb attack.

For some people, the pain never stops. In Malaysia, Pathmawathy Navaratnam woke up Sunday in her suburban Kuala Lumpur home and did what she's done every day for the past decade: wish her son Vijayashanker Paramsothy "Good morning."

The 23-year-old financial analyst was killed in the attacks on New York.

"He is my sunshine. He has lived life to the fullest, but I can't accept that he is not here anymore," said Navaratnam. "I am still living, but I am dead inside."

28 Photos

10 years later: Remembering 9/11 abroad

In Manila, dozens of former shanty dwellers offered roses, balloons and prayers for another 9/11 victim, American citizen Marie Rose Abad. The neighborhood used to be a shantytown that reeked of garbage. But in 2004, Abad's Filipino-American husband Rudy built 50 brightly colored homes, fulfilling his late wife's wish to help impoverished Filipinos.

The village has since been named after her.

"It's like a new life sprang from the death of Marie Rose and so many others," said villager Nancy Waminal.

Players from the American Eagles rugby team were among the first to mark the anniversary at a memorial service in the town of New Plymouth in New Zealand. The players, who are participating in the Rugby World Cup tournament, listened to a speech by U.S. ambassador David Huebner, whose brother Rick survived the attacks on the World Trade Center.

"We watched live on television the brutal murder of 3,000 individuals," Huebner said. "We reacted with near unanimous horror and sadness."

The Sept. 11 attacks spawned many conspiracy theories around the world, especially among Islamists who allege American or Israeli involvement.

Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, a vitriolic critic of the West, wrote on his blog that Arab Muslims are incapable of "planning and strategizing" such attacks. He added "it is not unthinkable" for former President George W. Bush to have lied about who was responsible for 9/11.

He wrote that the World Trade Center twin towers "came down nicely upon themselves" and looked more like "planned demolition of buildings" than collapse, he wrote.

In Pakistan, supporters of an Islamist political party staged anti-U.S. protests to mark the anniversary, holding up banners that repeated conspiracy theories. The protests by about 100 people were held in the capital Islamabad and Multan city.

But little attention was paid to such events and comments on a day dominated by sorrow and pain of the memories.

In Japan, families gathered in Tokyo to pay their respects to the 23 Fuji Bank employees who never made it out of their World Trade Center office. A dozen of the workers who died were Japanese.

One by one, family members laid flowers in front of an enclosed glass case containing a small section of steel retrieved from Ground Zero. They clasped their hands and bowed their heads. Some took pictures. Others simply stood in solemn silence. There were no tears, just reflection.

Sydney resident Rae Tompsett, 81, said she's never felt angry over the murder of her son Stephen Tompsett, 39, a computer engineer who was on the 106th floor of the World Trade Center's north tower when it was hit by a hijacked plane.

"No, not anger," she said. "Sorrow. Sorrow that the people who did this believed they were doing something good."

The retired school teacher and her husband Jack, 92, were among more than 1,000 people who packed Sydney's Roman Catholic cathedral St. Marys for a special multi-faith service.

"It's incredible that it is 10 years — it feels a bit like yesterday," Tompsett said.

South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak sent a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, conveying his "deepest condolences" to the victims of the 9/11 tragedy, their bereaved families and the American public. Lee, whose country is one of the strongest allies of the United States, called the attacks "unpardonable" and praised decade-long U.S. efforts to fight terrorism.

And leaders in Pakistan, which has been a victim of al Qaeda terrorism but is also accused of not doing enough to crack down on militants, said they joined the people of the U.S. in honoring the memory of those killed 10 years ago.

"As a country that has been severely affected by terrorism, we reaffirm our national resolve to strengthening international cooperation for the elimination of terrorism," the foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, authorities in New York and Washington are increasing security for their 9/11 memorial services after intelligence agents got a tip that three al Qaeda members could be planning to set off a car bomb in one of the cities. Officials have found no evidence any terrorists have sneaked into the country.

The Taliban marked the anniversary by vowing to keep fighting against U.S. forces in Afghanistan and saying they had no role in the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Each year, 9/11 reminds the Afghans of an event in which they had no role whatsoever," a statement e-mailed to news organizations said. "American colonialism shed the blood of tens of thousands of miserable and innocent Afghans."

Hours later, a Taliban suicide bomber in a large truck blew it up at the gate of a NATO combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan, killing two civilians and injuring 77 U.S. troops.

The U.S. and its allies invaded Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, after the Taliban who then ruled the country refused to hand over the Sept. 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. The al Qaeda leader was at the time living in Afghanistan, where the terror network retained training camps and planned attacks against the U.S. and other countries. Bin Laden was killed four months ago at his Pakistan hideout by U.S. forces.

"Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, my brother's soul will finally rest in peace," said Yambem Laba, whose younger brother Jupiter Yambem was among the victims.

Jupiter, an Indian, was manager at the "Roof of the World Restaurant in the World Trade Center.

About 100 family members and close friends gathered at his ancestral home in the northeastern state of Manipur for prayers Sunday.

"Osama is dead but the threat from al Qaeda has not ended," Laba said.

[Jaylah54]

I notice we never have any kind of national memorial service on August 6 (the day we bombed Hiroshima,directly killing an estimated 80,000 people and completely destroying approximately 70% of the city's buildings. Nor do we have any memorial service on August 9, the day we dropped another bomb on Nagasaki, directly killing another 70,000 people.

I guess we figure it's only important when it happens to us. (And we wonder why such a large percentage of the world population finds us insufferably arrogant.)

[oldman67]

I have one question. Why din't the Mossad agents with the white van who had set up a movie camera before the 9/11 attacks not warn somone. Was it just luck they were in the right place at the right time on the right day at the correct location to film this tradgey? Why were they seen dancing and yelling while so many victims were dying?

[imnotimportant]

I have one question. Why din't the pixies agents with the white van who had set up a movie camera before the 9/11 attacks not warn somone. Was it just luck they were in the right place at the right time on the right day at the correct location to film this tradgey? Why were they seen dancing and yelling while so many victims were dying?

Answer: they don't exist.

[taylorsucram]

There are many questions as it regards 9/11. The 47-story third tower, known as Tower Seven, collapsed seven hours after the twin towers. This building was not hit by any planes. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, based near Washington DC, is expected to conclude in its long-awaited report this month that ordinary fires caused the building to collapse. That would make it the first and only steel skyscraper in the world to collapse because of fire. Richard Gage, the founder of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, stated that "Building Seven is the smoking gun of 9/11. A sixth grader can look at this building falling at virtually free-fall speed, symmetrically and smoothly, and see that it is not a natural process. Buildings that fall in natural processes fall to the path of least resistance", says Gage, "they don't go straight down through themselves." In addition many Airline stocks were sold "short" days before 9/11. The people who "shorted the airline stocks made hundreds of millions of dollars, in fact $5 Million Dollars in profit has yet to be claimed by anyone. Further the "Project for the New American Century" a conservative think tank, which included Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Elliot Abrams, Lewis Libby, John Bolton, and William Kristol has what I would call "questionable objectives". This group outlines an aggressive military plan for U.S. world domination during the coming century. If you do a search of the document for "Pearl Harbor" you will get this: "Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event - like a new Pearl Harbor." You can find the document on their website at:

http://www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf

On September 10, Donald Rumsfeld announced publicly in the TV News that he could not account for ONE TRILLION dollars that had disappeared from the Pentagon, we are still looking for that money. And for the 64 billion dollars in CASH that disappeared from our hands in Iraq. Something is rotten in America and Kyle Dusty Foggo (former #3 man in the CIA) may be involved or know more than he lets on and you are stupid if you believe everything the Government tells you. Remember the "MAGIC BULLET" that turned around and killed President Kennedy during his assassination? Remember the "Gulf-of-Tonkin" event that got America knee-deep in the Vietnam War, a country that NEVER ATTACKED THE U.S. until this "manufactured" event? As I said something is rotten in America and this applies to the lying Bush regime in particular! YOU KNOW THE DRILL, FOLLOW THE MONEY. WHO GAINED THE MOST, WHAT OBJECTIVES WERE FULFILLED?

NOW FOR A REALITY CHECK: This country was founded on violence, murder and death. Perhaps you remember the Chinese Exclusion Act? Remember the phrase not having a ********* Chance? Or perhaps you remember the Trail of Tears? Remember the phrase The only good Redskin is a Dead Redskin? How about what Americans did to the Japanese Americans? Does Jim Crow and lynching ring a bell? When did you think our KARMA was going to come back at us? When did you think our chickens would come home to roost? We, Us, Americans are the most violent people on Earth, we are destroying our country, turning our people destitute and eliminating our rights ourselves. Its a little too late for Gun Control or anger management. Further, a country that created Abu Graib, Guantanamo Bay, the secret prisons and prison ships around the world, a country that launched two recent wars on faked justifications and killed more than a million civilians, a country that overthrew 13 legitimate democracies, and that installed and financed 42 bloody and brutal dictatorships around the world, shouldn't be shooting off too loudly about human rights violations and Libya, there are still murderers with badges, guilty of lynchings, running around free.

Oh, by the way, Asians have a loooong memory. The "Opium Poppy" is not and was never native-to-China. The British (read White-man) introduced it in order to addict the population and control the tea-silk-spice trade. Now the Chinese own us lock-stock and barrel. They are in Africa, the Mid-East and South America. Guess how it's going to end?

ALL IS GOING ACCORDING TO PLAN. AS-SALAAM-ALAIKUM.

[technocoffee]

So, what is it? The US did 9-11 as an "inside job"--to devastate it's own economy?? To destroy it's own military & financial center? If America is so damn evil, why are so many Chinese/other Asians, Latinos, AND those from Islamic countries over here? Answer: because so many of their countries are controlled by theocratic freaks (AS-SALAAM ALAIKUM) or communist governments. Unlike in most Islamic countries we can speak our minds, like at this site. If "all is going according to plan", there sure are a lot of dead muslims...So are you both trying to take credit AND avoid the blame for 9-11?? As with most evil liars, your arguments don't even make any sense...you can't keep the lies and accusations straight!!!

[nfission]

I'll never forget, it's sad and it was extremely tragic, but I'm tired of hearing about it. It's time to let go. I look to the future and I don't live in the past, none of us should.

[j_flood]

I would have amended headline to read "Many in the World mark 9/11 with Reflection and Prayer". Regretably the story itself contains how the 'reflection and prayer' portion was clearly defined by religion.

[signseeker1717]

Does it really matter how people express remembrance for their lost loved ones? The important thing is to try and have empathy and respect for the grief of others.