Napolitano: no 9/11 anniversary Qaeda plot seen (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Friday there was no credible intelligence that al Qaeda was plotting an attack for the September 11 anniversary, but the United States remained at a heightened state of vigilance.

Security officials are being especially watchful as the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks approaches. Al Qaeda was responsible for the attacks in which hijacked planes were rammed into the Twin Towers in New York, struck the Pentagon, and crashed into a Pennsylvania field.

"While there is no specific or credible intelligence that al Qaeda or its affiliates are plotting attacks in the United States to coincide with the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, we remain at a heightened state of vigilance and security measures are in place to detect and prevent plots against the United States should they emerge," Napolitano said in a statement.

The State Department issued a "Worldwide Travel Alert," saying Americans traveling and living abroad should be aware of the continued threat posed by al Qaeda and its affiliates.

No specific threats have been identified, the State Department said. "In the past, terrorist organizations have on occasion planned their attacks to coincide with significant dates on the calendar," it said.

"While threats remain, our nation is stronger than it was on 9/11, more prepared to confront evolving threats, and more resilient than ever before," Napolitano said.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Vicki Allen and Eric Beech)

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Bush to be in NYC to mark 10th anniversary of 9/11 (AP)

NEW YORK – The ceremony at the World Trade Center site marking the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks will be a solemn but stately event that will include former President George W. Bush and a chance for victims' families to view the names of loved ones etched into the memorial, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

President Barack Obama and Bloomberg will be joined by the leaders in charge during the 2001 attacks, including Bush, former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former New York Gov. George Pataki. Current New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will also be there, he said.

Speaking on his weekly radio show Friday on WOR-AM, Bloomberg said the lawmakers will read short poems or quotes. No speeches will be given.

"This cannot be political," he said. "So that's why there's a poem or a quote or something that each of the readers will read. No speeches whatsoever. That's not an appropriate thing."

The mayor also revealed a few more details for the ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 11. It will be held on the highway to the west of the site, and only relatives will be allowed inside the memorial to look for the names of their loved ones, etched into the railings at two huge waterfalls built in the footprint of the World Trade Center. The falls descend from street level down into a void.

The names of the nearly 3,000 victims — including those who died at the Pentagon and aboard United Flight 93 that went down in Shanksville, Pa., — will be read aloud for the first time.

The public will be allowed into the space, still a major construction site, the day after the ceremony but only with tickets. Bloomberg said limiting the number of people is a safety precaution as the work continues on 1 World Trade Center, the PATH station and museum.

He said there have been a couple hundred thousand reservations already, and a few days are already booked solid. He estimated that a million people annually will visit the site.

The museum is still under construction and is scheduled to open next year. Artifacts from the terrorist attacks are slowly being accumulated for the space, including a steel T-beam shaped like a cross that was discovered by a construction worker in the smoldering rubble. A national atheist group sued over the inclusion of the cross in the museum. It says all beliefs should be included, or none.

Bloomberg said on his radio show that the group had a right to sue, but the cross had a right to be there.

"This clearly influenced people," he said. "It gave them strength. In a museum you want to show things that impacted people's behavior back then, even if you don't think it was right. It's history. Museums are for history."

Bloomberg said other religious relics would be in the museum — a star of David cut from World Trade Center steel, a Bible found during the recovery effort and a Jewish prayer shawl.

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