WASHINGTON: People across the US prepare to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the September 11th attacks, which left nearly 3,000 people killed in New York City, Washington, DC, and Shanksville, Penn.
On a message to the nation on the eve of the attacks, US President Barack Obama recognized the pain of the 9/11 victims, CBC News reported on Friday.
Official accounts say 19 al-Qaeda men hijacked four commercial airliners and turned them into weapons.
Obama called on US citizens to remember that the nation is not at war with Islam, and that they were "one nation under God and we may call that God different names but we remain one nation."
In recent months, events like the now- cancelled plan to burn the Quran in Florida and the outcry over a proposed Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan have shown that anti-Islamic sentiments are on the rise in the US.
"We are not at war against Islam," Obama said. "We are at war against terrorist organizations that have distorted Islam or falsely used the banner of Islam to engage in their destructive acts."
Official ceremonies are planned Saturday in each of the three locations that were struck.
Obama will attend a commemoration at the Pentagon, while Vice President Joe Biden will attend the ceremony at Ground Zero. First lady Michelle Obama and former first lady Laura Bush will travel to Shanksville to observe the anniversary.
Washington blamed Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden for the attacks but nine years later, the most wanted man in the world is still at large. AGENCIES
