September 11, 2006
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REMARKS BY AMBASSADOR NICHOLAS F. TAUBMAN
ON THE OCCASION OF THE COMMEMORATION IN HONOR OF VICTIMS OF TERRORISM AROUND THE WORLD |
Mr. President,
Mr. Prime Minister,
Minister Ungureanu,
Fellow Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for joining us for this solemn event. It means so much to us that you are here with us today. It has been five years since that most terrible event, but the shock and horror of that day remain. It is important to know that you, our friends, have stayed with us through these last five years in our common struggle against terrorism.
America suffered a terrible blow five years ago, but it was not just America that suffered. At least ninety-one countries lost loved ones in New York, including Romania, Jordan, India, Israel, Brazil and Ethiopia. Since then, unfortunately, terrorism has continued to take its toll, affecting friends in the United Kingdom, Spain, Indonesia and Egypt, among others. All of us have suffered then from the pain and sorrow of witnessing such tragic events.
The struggle against terrorism goes on, and will continue, I'm afraid, as such events continue to plague us. We, the international community, are faced with the common challenge of confronting ideologies that promote hate, destruction and death. We must stand together to protect the values that unite us, the values of democracy, cooperation and tolerance. We all want to see a world in which our children can grow up in peace and freedom.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Romania and its people for standing by us during this difficult time. Thank you, Romania, for your steadfast support. My government and my country appreciate it.
Today we are gathered in remembrance of those we have lost in New York, in Washington, D.C., in Pennsylvania, in London, in Madrid, in Sharm al-Sheikh, in Amman, in Bali, in Mumbai, in Istanbul, and so many other places. We honor and cherish their memory, and we dedicate our struggle to build a better world to their memory.
Mr. President, we would be honored if you would say a few words.
(after the speeches)
Thank you, everyone, for being here with us today. We would like to have a moment of silence now in remembrance of those we have lost.
September 11, 2006
REMARKS BY U.K. AMBASSADOR ROBIN BARNETT
President Basescu
Prime Minister Tariceanu
Foreign Minister Ungureanu
Colleagues
Ladies and Gentlemen
Today is a day of remembrance in the United States and across the globe. It is an opportunity for all of us here in Bucharest to join together to offer comfort and support to the thousands of innocent victims who lost loved ones or were injured on that terrible day.
It is also an opportunity for those of us from countries which have also suffered at the hands of terrorists, whatever our race whatever our religion, to stand in solidarity with our American allies in sympathy with them and in defence of the fundamental democratic values which we share.
For the terrorist attacks in the United States on 9/11, as in London on 7 July 2005, were attacks on us all. They were not targeted at any single or specific group. In London, people from 19 countries, of many religions (and of none) were killed or injured.
Romania has shared in this suffering, whether it be in New York, London, Madrid on 11 March 2004 or in Iraq or Afghanistan. I extend our sympathy and support to the Romanian Government and people as you have comforted and supported us.
The UK is working with its partners, including the United States and Romania, to defeat terrorism. Promoting human rights, democracy, good governance and the rule of law is the best long-term guarantee of our own security.
As Prime Minister Tony Blair told the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles last month, our struggle against terrorism is about values. Our values are worth struggling for. In the past we have had to fight for them and defend them. We must continue to do so.
September 11, 2006
REMARKS BY SPANISH AMBASSADOR PABLO GARCIA-BERDAY
Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, Distinguished Ministers, Distinguished Ambassadors, Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to thank Ambassador Taubman for the opportunity to speak today at this poignant commemoration ceremony in memory of the victims of the 9/11 2001 terrorist attacks. The presence of the Spanish Ambassador here is fully justified as the day we commemorate today belongs to a tragic calendar in which the barbarous attacks of March 11, 2004, in Madrid, hold a special place.
By commemorating the victims of 9/11, we also remember all those who died because of barbarism and fanaticism without borders, because of the violence against the civilian population, mainly due to this new global method of blackmail, whose most spectacular manifestation occurred on 9/11.
It is also important and appropriate, as Ambassador of Spain, to remind you all here, in Bucharest, of the attacks in Madrid. On that day of March 11, 2004, 16 Romanian citizens were killed and 80 were wounded, the Romanians being the second largest community of victims after the Spanish one. The attacks in Madrid had a strong echo in Romania. They were yet another proof of the globalization of terror and of the fact that nobody can be indifferent to the threat of terrorism.
The solidarity showed after the Madrid attacks, the reaction of those who helped the wounded and the relatives of the deceased immediately after the tragic events, represented one of the most poignant moments in my country's recent history - and the same happened after the 9/11 moment in New York.
In Madrid, in the Retiro Park, we planted a small forest of 22 olive trees and 170 cypress trees in memory of the 192 victims killed on that day of March 11. Turned into a sanctuary of pain that we call the "Forest of the Absentees", it was visited in June by PM Tăriceanu, together with the Mayor of Madrid; the officials laid wreaths in memory of all the victims - Romanians, Spanish and other nationalities.
Since we are all victims when a terrorist attack occurs, we all lose something when somebody, in a close or faraway place, loses his or her life or freedom because of fanaticism and violence.
Today we commemorate the victims of these attacks in order to be dignified depositories of the memory of those who died and, most of all, to be able to build that future of freedom we are all entitled to.
September 11, 2006
REMARKS BY INDONESIAN CHARGE D'AFFAIRES ISHLAH ABDULLAH
Indonesian Charge d'Affaires Ishlah Abdullah
Your Excellency Mr. President Traian Basescu,
Your Excellency Mr. Ambassador Taubman
Most Distinguished Members of the Cabinet,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Friends in Grief,
It is with sorrow, disbelief, outrage and fear that Indonesia recalls these repeated instances of violence: the August 2001 bombing of a Jakarta shopping mall, the devastating October 2002 Bali bombing which killed more than 200 people, the August 2003 bombing outside the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, the terrorist attack over the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in 2004 as well as the October 2005 suicide bombings in Bali. On this sad moment of commemoration, our first thought goes to the victims and their family, to the injured and their recovery, to the shocked local population and the traumatized community. The sadness is overwhelming, yet we must steel ourselves for the struggle ahead. These tragic moments were all wake-up calls to Indonesia, to ASEAN region and to the entire civilized world to unite more strongly in order to defeat terrorism.
To destroy the alleged fertile ground for terrorist groups, since the 2004 first democratic elections the central government has grown stronger, has reconciled with separatist movements, has delimited firm maritime borders, has been fighting terrorism with an effective global, regional and international cooperation.
We've tried to react domestically to those monstruous acts, but I want to point out the idea that similar tragedies in the USA, Great Britain, Spain, Egypt etc. proves that all freedom-loving peoples are at risk from terrorism, at home and abroad, that this phenomena goes beyond country limits and religion, that this type of terror can happen anywhere in the world even in the most peaceful places such as Bali. Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country has been in so many cases a likely target for terrorism, a victim rather than the perpetrator. Along with Australians, French, Germans, Swedes, Britons, Americans, Canadians and other foreigners, the majority of those who lost their lives in these terrible events were Indonesian citizens, Muslim believers.
When faced with large human life loss, seems petty to refer to the economic consequences but still we must all be aware that tourism is the economic life of Bali, it is also the heart of Indonesian tourism and it is extremely important to the future lives of so many Indonesians. We cannot afford to be defeated by terrorism, and yet we cannot force people to return to Bali. But in order to regain trust in Indonesia, we need to appeal to the international community to keep Bali in their minds, not as a flaming bomb site, but as the island of God, where people are repelling nightmare memories and trying to put their lives back in order.
Our domestic strives and those joint with our international terror-fighting partners are worth taking for the sake of our beloved gone for ever. May God rest their souls and may our efforts find the expected feedback.
Thank you.