LONDON (Reuters) – The Al Qaeda attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001 failed to divide those who believe in freedom and democracy, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a video message marking the 20th anniversary of the same Day.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed, including more than 2,600 in the World Trade Center in New York, after hijackers took control of planes and used them to attack the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon just outside Washington. 67 were British nationals among the dead.
“As the terrorists put their burden of grief and suffering on and the threat continues to this day, we can now say, from the perspective of 20 years, that they have not shaken our belief in freedom and democracy,” Johnson said in the video message.
“They failed to drive our nations apart, or make us abandon our values or live in constant fear.”
The message will be played at an event in London’s Olympic Park, where a memorial sculpture is made of steel that was recovered from the collapsed towers of the World Trade Center.
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Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden planned the 9/11 attacks from Afghanistan. This sparked a US-led invasion that quickly overthrew the Taliban government there in 2001, but Western forces stayed in the country for another two decades.
Johnson linked the anniversary of 9/11 with the recent return of Taliban rule in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of American, British and other NATO forces.
“The recent events in Afghanistan only strengthen our determination to remember the people who have been taken from us, to cherish the bereaved and those who still mourn, and to hold on to our belief in freedom and democracy that always above every enemy will win, “he said.
(Reporting by William James; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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