George W Bush led the world yesterday in remembering those who died in last year's September 11 terror attacks on America.

Speaking ahead of today's gathering of UN leaders, who meet in New York to hear the president's plans for Iraq, he renewed his vow to combat terrorism.

"We have no intention of ignoring or appeasing history's latest fanatics trying to murder their way to power," said a defiant Bush.

"As long as terrorists and dictators plot against our lives and our liberty, they will be opposed by the United States Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force and Marines."

In the Times, James Doran reports from the ceremony at the site of Manhattan's Twin Towers.

"For the thousands of relatives who joined the belated funeral procession into the pit of Ground Zero this was the moment they had dreaded and yearned for: the moment they were finally allowed on to the site where their loved ones perished in a mountain of burning rubble," he observes.

Meanwhile in London crowds gathered outside the US embassy to remember the 3025 dead - with a New York police officer presenting David Blunkett with a Union flag found in the wreckage of the World Trade Centre.

Royalty, religious leaders and senior politicians gathered at St Paul's Cathedral in London for a service of remembrance - where "a long, slow shower of 3000 white rose petals drifted down from the dome...symbolising an immense loss of life".

"Thrown in handfuls from the whispering gallery, the tribute to each victim of September 11 reflected the service's emphasis on remembrance rather than vengeance," added the FT.

But the Mirror warns Bush that the "enormous sorrow and compassion for those who died on September 11" should not be taken as a blank cheque for military action against Iraq.

"It must not be thrown away for the sake of a pointless military adventure," writes the editor.