World's silent tribute to USA

Millions fell silent today in a public act of mourning for the victims of the US terror attacks.

Across the UK and Europe life came to a standstill for three minutes as people reflected on Tuesday’s tragic events.

In America, as President George Bush prepared to visit the wreckage of New York’s World Trade Centre, fears that terrorists had planned further attacks receded, but so did hopes that any survivors may still be found.

Police swooped last night at two New York airports on several men reported to armed with knives and fake pilot identification.

But Senator Joseph Biden, a member of the Senate’s intelligence committee, said today that none of the men were terrorists attempting a repeat of Tuesday’s hijackings.

‘‘One was actually a pilot,’’ he said. ‘‘Ten were people who had Boeing stickers on their baggage and were on their way to a Boeing conference. They were either Boeing staff or people invited to the conference,’’ he said, adding that one was simply a ‘‘screwball’’.

After the 11am silence, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh joined Prime Minister Tony Blair for a service of remembrance at St Paul’s Cathedral. Thousands more stood silently outside.

Earlier, Mr Blair told a special sitting of Parliament that Britain would join America in hunting down those responsible for the ‘‘hideous and foul’’ terror strikes.

He said the murder of at least 100 Britons caught up in the attacks should be treated as if they were killed ‘‘in the heart of Britain itself’’.

Mr Blair said action ‘‘will be determined, it will take time, it will continue over time until this menace is properly dealt with and its machinery of terror destroyed’’.

In New York heavy rain and electric storms hampered rescue efforts.

In Minnesota, the possibility emerged that the FBI knew before Tuesday’s attack of at least one Arab man seeking the type of flight training the hijackers received.

US officials confirmed that a few weeks ago the FBI detained an Arab man in Minnesota when he tried to seek flight simulator training for a large jetliner.

Those who hijacked the four airliners received similar training.

There were also claims US intelligence was warned of a terrorist ‘‘spectacular’’ on the country last June.

Intelligence officials are thought to have had ‘‘an inkling’’ about an attack but details were too vague at the time to indicate the scale of the horror which unfolded on Tuesday morning, a special edition of Time Magazine reported.

In Washington, the most explicit description yet of the Bush administration’s intentions was revealed by Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who said the military retaliation would continue until the roots of terrorism were destroyed.

‘‘It’s not just simply a matter of capturing people and holding them accountable, but removing the sanctuaries, removing the support systems, ending states who sponsor terrorism,’’ he told a news conference in a Pentagon briefing room that still smelled of smoke and soot.

But veteran Labour MP Tam Dalyell, Father of the House as the longest serving MP, urged Britain not to kill innocent civilians in revenge attacks.

‘‘If we do so, we simply recruit more terrorists,’’ said Mr Dalyell.

Labour left winger Dennis Skinner was more outspoken, bringing cries of ‘‘shame’’ from fellow MPs when he said there was ‘‘a world of difference’’ between standing shoulder to shoulder with the American people and ‘‘clinging to the coat tails of an American President ... whose first act when those firefighters were standing ten feet tall among the rubble of the World Trade Centre was to scurry off to his bunker’’.

At St Paul’s inLondon, the Archbishop of Canterbury urged people to pray for the leaders of America as they considered how to respond to the terror attacks.

He said those responsible for Tuesday’s ‘‘barbaric acts’’ must be held to account, but he added: ‘‘We must be guided by higher goals than mere revenge.’’

Nato chief Lord Robertson declared that the alliance would not lash out blindly in revenge for terrorist attacks in Washington and New York.

Describing the carnage as ‘‘an attack on all of us, on our values, on our open societies,’’ Lord Robertson pledged that the 19 countries of the alliance would not stoop to the level of the terrorists.

‘‘The mad creatures who committed these terrible crimes this week may have hoped to provoke us into mindless revenge in order to create even more devastation,’’ he said. ‘‘They are wrong.’’

And European leaders sought today to quell any moves toward warmongering in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, with several figures saying that ‘‘we are not at war.’’

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, after leading his Cabinet in the Europe-wide three-minute silent commemoration for victims, reiterated the need for an ‘‘implacable and long fight against terrorism.’’

However, he also said, ‘‘We are not at war against Islam or the Arab-Muslim world.’’

Hours earlier, Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, said that the EU is ‘‘on watch’’ and ‘‘mobilised,’’ but he added, ‘‘We are not at war.’’

President Bush’s New York visit comes after a day of shattered hope in the smouldering ruins of the two collapsed towers, as the belief that five firefighters had survived in the rubble since Tuesday turned out to be a misunderstanding.

Reports earlier today that ten police officers had been located in the rubble also proved unfounded.

Three days into the rescue effort, just a handful of survivors have been found and fewer than 100 bodies have been recovered, of which only 30 had been identified.