World mourns US victims

President Bush and his wife join the prayers

Millions of people across the world have been paying tribute and saying prayers for the thousands of victims of Tuesday's US terror attacks.

US President George W Bush led the main ceremony in Washington which was attended by leaders of different religions.

Albania called a day of national mourning

Mr Bush said: "God's signs are not always the ones we look for. His purposes are not always our own.

"We ask Almighty God to watch over our nation. We pray that he will comfort and console those who walk in sorrow."

At Washington's National Cathedral, Muslim clerics joined with rabbis and Christian clergy to mourn along with the president.

Muzammil H Siddiqi, a member of the Islamic Society of North America, spoke of "tears and broken hearts" since the attacks.

The cathedral's Episcopalian dean, Nathan Baxter, called for restraint in their wake.

"Let us pray that as we act we not become the evil we deplore," he said in his sermon.

Former presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford also attended, as did former Vice President Al Gore.

Mr Bush has given orders to continue flying the national flag at half mast until 22 September.

Solidarity with US

In neighbouring Canada, Prime Minister Jean Chretien addressed about 75,000 people at a ceremony of solidarity in Ottawa.

"There will be no silence from Canada," he said. "Our friendship has no limit."

Canadians pay their respects

A three-minute silence was observed by millions of people across Europe.

In London, the Queen, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and leading US dignitaries attended a remembrance service in St Paul's cathedral, while thousands took part outside.

The sombre mood in London, where many workers in the financial services sector had colleagues who perished in the World Trade Center, was reflected elsewhere.

Irish President Mary McAleese said Irish people were "sad, sickened, outraged and frightened" by the terrorist attacks.

The queue of people waiting to sign the condolences book at the US embassy in Dublin on Friday morning was about 1.5 kilometres long.

In France, church bells rang for five minutes and radio stations interrupted their programming to play the John Lennon song "Imagine".

The lifts in the Eiffel Tower were still.

Kenya remembers

In Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called on citizens to rally at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate for a show of solidarity with the US.

In Brussels, hundreds of office workers joined the president of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, and Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt in a simple outdoor ceremony at the heart of the European Union district.

Up to 200,000 people gathered at the Brandenberg Gate in Berlin for a ceremony designed to show solidarity with the American people.

A candle to remember the victims

Russia held a minute's silence with flags flown at half-mast nationwide.

In Kenya, mourners paid their respects at a service in Nairobi, where more than 200 people died in the bombing of the US embassy three years ago.

Officials from the US Embassy and the Kenyan Government joined church leaders and hundreds of Christians in the city centre's Uhuru park to sing hymns.

South Korea, host to nearly 40,000 American troops, signalled the start of a minute's silence with wailing sirens.