Actor and writer Steven Berkoff has announced that he will perform a world premi�re of his new work about 11 September at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Berkoff was outraged when he was deported from the US in June over a visa violation and accused the US of suffering from "hysteria" since the terror attacks.

I'm looking at the motives for it, the response, the event itself and the feelings and ideas it has generated

Steven Berkoff

He will now stage his Requiem for Ground Zero, which he calls a memorial to the many unknown victims, at the Assembly Rooms from 14 August.

The piece will be just one of a number of Fringe productions focusing on the terror attacks and their repercussions.

"I've always had such a strong feeling for America, particularly for New York where I've been many times," said Berkoff.

"There are a lot of things wrong with it, but I've always found New York to be a responsive and warm-hearted city, and people have been responsive to me."

He added: "I'm looking at the motives for it, the response, the event itself and the feelings and ideas it has generated.

Hollywood couple

"Basically, it's based on the reaction - the horror, the shock, the pain, the madness of it - but also why and how it was done."

Berkoff's late addition to the Fringe schedule follows a similar announcement by Hollywood couple Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins.

They are staging a Fringe performance of The Guys about New York firefighters involved in the World Trade Center salvage operation.

For his performance, Berkoff will read his hour-long poem Requiem, written shortly after the 11 September.

Steven Berkoff wrote the epic poem

He was due to take part in 11 September anniversary tribute events in the US but that plan fell through after his deportation.

'Trivial'

He was detained and sent back to the UK by US immigration officials after they discovered he had stayed in the country for one extra day in 1997.

Speaking again about the incident, he said: "There's a pervasive lunacy in the air now and so they think that if they clamp down on any trivial, tiny thing, every bit of minutiae, they will make the ship safe."

The British actor had been in the US to speak at a festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Berkoff is an acclaimed theatre actor and director, particularly in Shakespearian productions.

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

He lives in the UK but has travelled regularly to and from the US for more than 20 years for his stage and screen work.