A cyclist with the Ride to Recovery project peers in at the World Trade Center construction site to check out the progress of the rebuilding. Ride to Recovery cyclists, including wounded US soldiers, will ride from New York to Washington, DC through Shanksville, Pennsylvania. [Photo/Agencies]

US President tells his people to learn from the past and move forward as one

WASHINGTON / NEW YORK - US President Barack Obama is calling on America to come together on the anniversary of the Sept 11, 2001 terror attacks and look to a shared future, even while reflecting on a decade filled with strife.

"It's clear for all the world to see - the terrorists who attacked us that September morning are no match for the character of our people, the resilience of our nation, or the endurance of our values," the president said on Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address a day ahead of the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

"We're doing everything in our power to protect our people," he said. "And no matter what comes our way, as a resilient nation, we will carry on."

Obama and his wife, Michelle, planned to participate in a service project Saturday afternoon in the Washington area. Then on Sunday, the president is scheduled to visit all three sites where hijacked planes struck 10 years ago - New York City, Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon - before delivering evening remarks at a memorial event at the Kennedy Center in Washington.

His comments on Saturday were likely a preview of the message he will deliver on Sunday. Obama sought to strike a balance between remembering and moving forward, while also trying to summon the feeling of unity that existed during those dark days after terrorists killed nearly 3,000 Americans.

"They wanted to deprive us of the unity that defines us as a people. But we will not succumb to division or suspicion," Obama said. "We are Americans, and we are stronger and safer when we stay true to the values, freedoms and diversity that make us unique among nations."

Obama also thanked American troops who have served in two long wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, launched after the attacks and praised the military successes that led to advances against al-Qaida and the killing of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. He also reaffirmed his commitment to winding down the conflicts he inherited.

"Yes, we face a determined foe, and make no mistake - they will keep trying to hit us again," Obama said. "But as we are showing again this weekend, we remain vigilant. We're doing everything in our power to protect our people." Intelligence officials have been working around the clock to determine the validity of a new threat of a possible al-Qaida attack on New York or Washington timed to coincide with the 9/11 anniversary.

Major US cities were on high alert as the nation began marking the poignant 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks amid warnings of a new al-Qaida linked terror threat.

Although details of the new suspected plot possibly involving car bombs in New York and Washington were sketchy, a US official source told media the threat was credible and somewhere between "aspirational" and a "boom."

According to The New York Times, word of the plot was passed to US intelligence officers by an informer based in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan on Wednesday.

In New York, heavily armed police patrolled the busy streets, trucks and cars were stopped and inspected at vehicle checkpoints and bomb-sniffing dogs scoured the subway.

"I would say that people should be alert. I don't think anybody should be panicked," Senator Joe Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, told CNN.

The decision to go public with the information was "important because it alerts everybody to be on guard this weekend. And be careful," he added.

Visitors photograph the World Trade Center construction site in New York on Sept 9, 2011. US national and city leadrers will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on Sunday with a ceremony unveiling a memorial and museum. [Photo/Agencies]

Religious leaders have been calling on their congregations to reflect on forgiveness, coexistence with other faiths and unity as the US, while emphasizing the need to remember the 3,000 people who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks.

Pope Benedict XVI has insisted that violence must never be carried out in God's name as he marks the 10th anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks.

Benedict sent a letter to Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York on the eve of the anniversary. He said he was praying for the thousands of innocent victims of the "brutal assault" and hoped that their families may find continued consolation.

He calls for a greater commitment to justice and a "global culture of solidarity" to rid the world of the types of grievances that spark such acts of violence.

At the St. Innocent Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Anchorage, Alaska, a special ceremony for Sept 11 victims on Sunday will seek to illustrate how far-reaching the attacks were. In Denver, parishioners of Park Hill United Methodist Church will gather outside singing a hymn and link arms in a U-shape around the historic building in what one organizer called a "human link of love."

Across New York City, the anniversary was being commemorated in mosques, churches and synagogues.

The Archdiocese of New York called on its clergy to focus on readings of forgiveness.

At the Islamic Cultural Center of New York on Friday, Imam Shamsi Ali called on the hundreds of Muslims gathered at the large Manhattan mosque to be ambassadors of their faith and to engage their fellow Americans as neighbors.

AP-AFP