Giuliani to lead tribute to September 11 dead

World leaders will light an eternal flame, and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani will lead a reading of the names of 2,823 victims to mark the anniversary of the World Trade Centre attack.

The day-long series of remembrances will start early in the morning with bagpipe and drum processions that will begin in each of the city's five boroughs and converge at the World Trade Centre site.

At 8.46am local time - the moment when the first hijacked airliner hit one of the twin towers - the city will observe a moment of silence.

"This will not be an ordinary day for anyone in New York," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in announcing a plan that "honours the memory of those we lost that day and that gives New Yorkers, Americans and people around the world the opportunity to remember and reflect".

Mr Giuliani, who was praised for his courageous leadership after the attack, will begin the reading of the names of those killed.

A cross-section of New Yorkers and people from around the world will follow Mr Giuliani in reading the names, which is expected to take most of the nearly two-hour service.

Governor George Pataki will read Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, which includes the line: "We cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract."

President Lincoln gave his famous address in 1863 at the dedication of a cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, at the site of the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War.

Places of worship will be encouraged to toll their bells, and family members of the victims will be invited to descend a ramp seven stories to the footprint of the twin towers.

At sunset, world leaders will light an eternal flame at a temporary memorial a few blocks from ground zero.