LONDON (Reuters) - The Queen and Prime Minister Tony Blair will be joined today by former U.S.
President George Bush at a national memorial service to honour the Britons killed in the September 11 attacks on the United
States.
About 80 Britons died in the suicide raids on the World Trade Centre in New York -- exact numbers remain elusive -- in a death toll that makes Britain one of the day's biggest victims after the United States.
Nearly 4,000 people were killed in the hijacked plane attacks on New York and the Pentagon at Washington, and in another hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania.
"This will be a time for reflection and mourning across the country. No one who witnessed the attack on the Twin Towers on September 11, no one who followed the events since will forget what they saw," Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell told a news conference.
About 800 relatives and friends of the victims will attend the service at London's imposing Westminster Abbey. Unlike a ceremony last month at the site of the attacks, the central London service will focus on the Britons who died that day.
"We in the government and many relatives thought it was right to have an event at home in the UK, just for UK victims and something that would be organised after a little bit of time had passed," Jowell said.
Bush senior will attend at the request of his son, U.S. President George W. Bush, along with Prince Philip, Prince Charles and the U.S. ambassador to Britain, William Farish.
The service will feature hymns and readings specifically requested by the families of the dead, including two poems read by Oscar-winning actress Dame Judi Dench.
Representatives from U.S. emergency services and companies such as Cantor Fitzgerald and Risk Waters that lost many employees in the attack will also attend.
"This is not a state occasion, this is a service for families. The prime minister and others are there to pay their respects and not to lead the congregation," Jowell said.
But she said the service should act as a national focal point of remembrance for those who died.
Britain was also planning a long-term memorial to the victims after consultation with their families.
Last month, the government -- Washington's closest ally in its war on terrorism -- paid for relatives of the British dead to fly to a memorial service at "Ground Zero", the Manhattan site of the fallen twin towers.
Thanks to Mike Kennedy for sending me this article which appeared on the Reuters Web Site on November 29,2000.