6 May 2011

Obama visits Ground Zero in New York

9:00 pm on 6 May 2011

US President Barack Obama has visited Ground Zero, the site of the September 11 terror attacks in New York, four days after American forces killed al Qaeda head Osama Bin Laden.

Mr Obama on Thursday laid a red, white and blue floral wreath at the site of where the World Trade Centre buildings were destroyed in 2001 after hijacked planes ploughed through them causing their collapse.

Nearly 3000 people died in the attack and Mr Obama spoke to relatives of the victims at the site, the BBC reports.

Earlier, the president told New York fire-fighters: "When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say."

The visit comes a day after Mr Obama said graphic photographs of bin Laden's dead body would not be made public.

The al Qaeda leader was killed by US special forces in northern Pakistan on Monday. His body was then buried at sea from a US aircraft carrier.

The Pakistani military on Thursday admitted "shortcomings" for failing to locate bin Laden and has said it will launch an investigation.

But it also warned it would review co-operation with the US if there were any more unilateral raids such as the one that killed the al Qaeda leader.

Several recent polls showed Mr Obama's job approval rating has been boosted since bin Laden's death.