Brussels pays tribute to New York victims

Date: 13/12/01

AT 2.46pm on Tuesday, exactly three months European time to the minute since the first hijacked plane struck the World Trade Center in New York, EU and US officials paid tribute to the more than 3,000 people who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks.

In a moving ceremony held at Place Schuman in the heart of Brussels, synchronized with similar commemorations at 'Ground Zero' in Manhattan and across the world, a minute's silence was observed in honour of the dead. In Brussels, the American, European Union and Belgian national anthems were played.

Among those paying their respects were Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen and Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel. They were joined by James Foster, deputy chief of the US Mission to the EU and Stephen Brauer, US ambassador to Belgium.