The September 11th attack
Nations offer sympathy, friendship

Associated Press

LONDON — Millions of people gathered in silence worldwide yesterday to express sympathy and friendship to a grieving America, including 200,000 who went to the heart of Berlin to show that the United States does not stand alone against terrorism.

From the docks of Iceland to London's grand St. Paul's Cathedral, mourners remembered those lost in Tuesday's fiery airborne strikes on New York and the Pentagon.

At St. Paul's, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey said that although the World Trade Center was gone, "another, older, American icon was not submerged. The September morning sun continued to shine on the Statue of Liberty, her torch raised like a beacon.... a symbol of all that is best in America."

Many reached back half a century to the still-fresh memory of American help in time of need.

More than 200,000 Berliners filled the broad boulevard leading to the Brandenburg Gate in a heartfelt demonstration of solidarity with the country that helped rebuild postwar Germany and sustained the divided city with an airlift during the Soviet blockade.

"No one knows better than the people here in Berlin what America has done for freedom and democracy in Germany," President Johannes Rau said.

"Therefore, we say to all Americans from Berlin: America does not stand alone."

The global day of mourning for thousands who died in Tuesday's suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon began in Asia.

Sirens blared for one minute in South Korea and children appeared outside the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. Some knelt before the building and prayed silently.

In Iran, antipathy toward the United States was set aside as 60,000 spectators and players observed a minute of silence at the Tehran soccer stadium before a World Cup qualifying match.

Stock exchanges from Norway to Austria stopped business for three minutes. In Britain, people stood silently in shopping centers and firefighters stood at attention outside their stations as a mark of respect for the firefighters lost in rescue efforts. In Finland, cabbies pulled to the side of the road. In Iceland, fishermen stood in silence at the Reykjavik docks.

Thousands of people, many of them Americans, filled St. Paul's Cathedral and a surrounding plaza for a prayer service attended by Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair.

In Paris, French President Jacques Chirac stood to attention in front of a military honor guard at the Elysee Palace, and the Republican Guard played "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Most European nations observed a three-minute silence in the morning or at noon as banks of floral bouquets swelled outside American embassies.