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Dawn broke over New York three years to the day of the attacks, lighting up the gap left by the fallen Twin Towers.

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Bells tolled and minute silences were held to mark the exact times the planes crashed with the loss of some 3,000 lives.

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Employees of companies around New York's Ground Zero site paid their respects by lowering the national flag.

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Relatives paid tribute to loved ones. Jody Greene's father was among 40 killed when Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania.

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Wreaths were laid at Washington's Arlington Cemetery to honour the 184 victims of the Pentagon attack.

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New York suffered the worst death toll - with the loss of 2,749 people after the Twin Towers were hit.

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Many of those who died were New York City firefighters, trying to rescue people when the two skyscrapers collapsed.

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President George W Bush honoured the dead with a silence outside the White House along with his wife, Laura.

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American servicemen in Afghanistan also marked the anniversary.

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The American flag was flown at half-mast at US bases in Iraq.

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Japanese demonstrators turned out to form a massive peace sign in a Tokyo park...

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...while other foreign protesters such as these Islamists in Pakistan marked the day with anti-US rallies.