Actor and director Steven Berkoff is to perform his Requiem For Ground Zero poem in London on Wednesday's anniversary of the US terror attacks.

The piece was first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last month.

It deals with the atmosphere in the period after the 11 September suicide attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

Berkoff says he intends the hour-long piece, which is being performed at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, to pay homage to the "unknown victims" of the tragedy.

Berkoff is best known for performing Shakespeare

He told BBC News Online: "I was trying to release the compassion, wonderment, awe and sorrow I felt, and the only way I could put this down was to set it as a poem.

"I felt as if I was there, and I felt compelled to set it down."

Berkoff added that this form of writing gave him a "great relief".

He had planned to take part in memorial events in the US, but that plan fell through after he was deported from the country in June.

He was due to perform at a festival in Michigan, but had to leave the country because he had overstayed his visa by one day in 1997.

Calling himself a "great ally of the United States", he accused US authorities of over-reacting to the 11 September attacks.

He still feels angry about the incident now.

"I have always been welcomed in America, but I came across one loony in the immigration office - it was unfortunate," he told BBC News Online.

'Fascinated'

But he added reaction to his piece had been "100% positive" from people in New York and across the US.

"They've been very interested and fascinated to hear an Englishman respond to something they thought was utterly their own," he said.

Berkoff has made his name as an acclaimed theatre actor and director, particularly in Shakespearian productions.

He also has many high-profile film credits to his name, including roles in A Clockwork Orange, Rambo and Beverly Hills Cop.