11 Sep. 2008

NATO commemorates 9/11

Seven years after the events of September 11, NATO will pay tribute to all victims of terrorist attacks around the world during a commemorative ceremony.

The NATO flag as well as the flags of the Alliance’s 26 member countries will be lowered to half-mast.

The fight against terrorism moved right up NATO’s agenda when, on the evening of 12 September 2001, the Allies invoked Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, the Alliance’s collective defence clause, for the first time in NATO's history.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said : "NATO Allies remain united in their continued determination to fight the scourge of terrorism, including through our operations in Afghanistan.  On this sad anniversary, and on behalf of NATO, I express my sympathy to the families of all victims of terrorism."