Fears of a new terrorist strike keep American nerves on edge

THE United States will pause today in sombre remembrance of the September 11 terrorist strikes that led the country into an open-ended global war against a largely invisible enemy.

Although the past two years have allowed a thin protective skin to grow around the physical and psychological trauma inflicted by the attacks, fears of a new terrorist strike and concerns over Iraq have kept American nerves on edge.

The national focus, as it was for the first anniversary, will be a ceremony at Ground Zero in New York, the site of the World Trade Center, where two airliners hijacked by followers of Osama bin Laden slammed into the Twin Towers, killing nearly 2,800 people.

Al-Qaida members crashed another plane into the Pentagon outside Washington killing about 180 people, and a fourth airliner with 44 people crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers staged a rebellion against the hijackers.

New York is still tending its own wounds. But today's ceremonies should be more low-key with none of the mass mourning of a year ago. The second anniversary promises to be more private, more reflective and without the ceremonial grandeur and fiery political speeches.

Once again the names of all those who perished will be read aloud at Ground Zero, but this time by children related to the victims.

The ceremony's participants will pause in silence four times twice to mark the times that each hijacked plane hit the towers and twice to mark the times that each tower fell.

In the evening, powerful spotlights will send two shafts of light up into the night sky to symbolise the fallen twin towers.

A notable absentee will be President George W Bush, who opted to send Vice-President Dick Cheney to Ground Zero as his representative.

But Mr Cheney yesterday agreed not to attend the memorial to keep security measures at a reasonable level. Mr Bush, who had led the mourners in New York for the first anniversary, will take part in a church prayer and remembrance service and will hold a moment of silence on the South Lawn of the White House.

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will lay a wreath at Arlington Cemetery and attend a ceremony dedicating a stained-glass window at the Pentagon. Interior Secretary Gale Norton will attend a ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to begin the process of developing a memorial there.

Security patrols will be stepped up in New York, but unlike last year the federal Department of Homeland Security has no plans to raise the national terrorist alert level.

Nevertheless, a New York Times poll published three days before the anniversary indicated that public fears remain high.

Sixty-eight percent of those asked said they were concerned there would be another attack on New York and 56 percent said they felt it "likely there will be another terrorist attack in the US within the next few months."

People are also worried about the state of readiness against a chemical or biological attack. Just 50 percent said that the federal government was doing enough to help protect New York and only 28 percent said the city was getting enough help to recover financially.

On Monday, a milestone of sorts was reached with the funeral of Michael Ragusa, the last of the 343 firefighters killed in the attack on the World Trade Center towers to have a formal service.

Mr Ragusa's remains were never found so his family decided to put a vial of blood that he had donated to a bone marrow centre in the coffin buried in a Brooklyn graveyard.