US marks 25th anniversary of 9/11 attacks

In short: Americans have marked 25 years since the September 11 attacks, honouring the nearly 3,000 people killed when hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center. In an unusual move US President Donald Trump attended a ceremony at the Pentagon rather than the event in New York. Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani, New York City's first Muslim leader, attended the Ground Zero event despite a campaign urging him to stay away. The United States has commemorated the 25th anniversary of the devastating September 11 attacks with a poignant ceremony in New York that was marked by Donald Trump's absence and searing criticism from victims' relatives. In an unusual move, the US president paid his respects at the Pentagon, where hijacked planes destroyed the World Trade Center and most of the 2,977 victims were killed, up-ending the global status quo. The Republican billionaire sought to link the "war on terror" that followed 9/11 with the conflict in Iran. "Today we renew the sacred oath that we first swore in their names a quarter of a century ago. We will never, ever forget. That's why we fight today," Mr Trump said. "We don't have a choice. There can only be victory. We fight hard. We fight to win." Vice-President JD Vance and Mr Trump's four living predecessors — Republican George W Bush, who was in office during the attacks, and Democrats Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton — attended the event at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan. A huge crowd gathered for the sombre annual ceremony, which retraced the events of 9/11 minute by minute, concluding shortly before 1pm, local time. The names of the victims were read out and a bell was rung to mark major moments in the attack. The event is generally apolitical with no speeches. But several bereaved family members who read out the names of those killed criticised Saudi Arabia and US leaders' closeness to the kingdom. 'We have no justice' Terry Strada, whose husband Tom Strada died in the Twin Towers, unleashed a stinging attack on Riyadh, accusing it of complicity in the attacks and denouncing former presidents who were in attendance. "You are missed more with each year that passes, but how can it be 25 years and still we have no justice for the role that Saudi Arabia played in your murder?" she said. The September 11, 2001 attacks were carried out by mostly Saudi hijackers and orchestrated by Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi. "For 25 years, administration after administration — including leaders in front of us here today — chose to protect the Saudis instead of standing with a 9/11 family," Ms Strada said, calling for action from the absent president. In New York, Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the city's first Muslim leader, attended the Ground Zero event despite a campaign urging him to stay away. That effort was spearheaded by the right-wing New York Post newspaper and former mayor and Trump ally Rudy Giuliani, who led the city through the crisis and was also present on Friday. The petition gathered more than 100,000 signatures. A small anti-Islam protest gathered at City Hall and marched towards Ground Zero, flanked by police and counter-protesters. Mr Mamdani won plaudits for revealing thousands of documents showing what city officials knew about toxicity levels of the air in Lower Manhattan following the attacks. After the initial dust cloud that followed the collapse of the World Trade Center, pollution lingered for months, causing cancers from which thousands of New Yorkers still suffer today. The CIA also declassified and published dozens of 9/11-related presidential intelligence briefs to coincide with the 25th anniversary. 'New York did recover' Nineteen Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked four airliners on the nearly cloudless autumn day in 2001. Two of the jets slammed into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers and the iconic skyscrapers collapsed. A third plane struck the Pentagon, while a fourth — believed to have been aiming for Congress or the White House — crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers fought back. Some 100 million Americans have been born since or are too young to remember the traumatic day. Sophia Rotunno, 58, recalls watching the first tower fall with colleagues back in 2001 and also remembers helping those affected in the aftermath. "All we could do is support them, and be there for when they went to memorials, or be there for when they came home, and hug them, and pray for them,"she said. "It was a hard time for everybody afterward — and New York did recover." Al-Qaeda meanwhile marked the anniversary by releasing a video showing images of the late Bin Laden and his son Hamza, who Mr Trump said in 2019 had also been killed. AFP