Keeping a sliver of hope for survivors

By HOLLY BECKA / The Dallas Morning News

NEW YORK – A lightning storm and heavy downpours slowed rescue work at the World Trade Center on Friday morning even as the mayor refused to reclassify the relief effort solely as a recovery mission.

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said that 10 days after the terrorist attack, several fires still burn underneath the wreckage of the compressed building. He acknowledged there was little hope of finding survivors but said he wasn't ready to reclassify the search and rescue mission as a recovery mission.

"I don't think we have to do it that way," he said. "Over a period of time, the emphasis will change. ... The chance of recovering anyone alive is very, very small. We're not going to recover significant numbers of living people; we know that. ... [But] the experts say there's still more time. We keep alive the hope that maybe we can find a few people."

Mr. Giuliani said Friday that 241 of the 6,333 people missing after the attack had been found dead. He also warned that the number of missing could climb or dip as authorities try to determine how many foreign nationals might have been in the trade center.

Of the 241 bodies recovered, 170 have been identified. Officials say 70,000 tons of debris have been removed from the site.

Mr. Giuliani used his Friday radio program to invite residents to get back to shopping in the city. "We need your money," he told listeners.After the skies cleared, he toured the still-smoldering site with Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert and, later, with U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller.

Leaders from across the country and abroad have visited the wreckage many times in recent days as President Bush prepares Americans for a war against terrorism.

Mr. Ashcroft announced that the federal government would give the city a $10 million grant to help defray the Police Department's rising costs because of the attack and the rescue effort.

"We will rebuild New York," he said. "It's our nature. It's our spirit."

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials announced Friday that a special crane capable of lifting heavy steel and other debris will soon arrive from Germany.

Sixty-two FEMA specialists are working at the site, and a special crime unit accompanying the FEMA teams is searching for the black boxes from the two hijacked planes and any other helpful evidence.

About 250 people of all faiths gathered in Washington Square Park for a ceremony organized by South Asian groups.

Vakil Ansari, 50, of Long Island came to the United States from Pakistan when he was 19. He wanted to show support for not only Muslims but for all Americans on Friday.

"I am here because I am Muslim-American, and I'm sorry about what happened," Mr. Ansari said. "Any person who does that crime is not a Muslim.

"... I am American. My kids are here. I love the [New York] Yankees. I live here, and I'm going to die here."

Talib Abgur-Rashid, the imam of the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood in Harlem, was one of many religious leaders at Washington Square Park ceremony. He led prayers asking for forgiveness and to provide solace, saying, "On no soul does Allah place a burden greater than it can bear."

Mr. Abgur-Rashid encouraged people throughout the United States to pray for peace. "We seem to be on the brink of war," he said. "You cannot bomb away hatred, but you can pray away hatred."

City Council member Christine Quinn, who represents the area in which the vigil was held, called on people to stop attacking those who are or thought to be Muslims.

"It will not being someone back," she said. "It will not raise the World Trade Center. It will not take us to where we perceived our minds to be on September 10."

Staff Writer Jennifer Emily and The Associated Press contributed to this report.