U.S. President George W. Bush marked six months since September 11 on Monday by urging nations with militants linked to al Qaeda to help "remove the terrorist parasites" and warning that Yemen was in danger of becoming another Afghanistan.
"Every terrorist must be made to live as an international fugitive, with no place to settle or organize, no place to hide, no governments to hide behind and not even a safe place to sleep," Bush said.
Bush spoke on the White House South Lawn. According to Reuters, the event comprised of about 1,300 people, including members of Congress, more than 100 ambassadors and about 300 family members who lost relatives in the attacks.
Discussing the post-Afghanistan phase of the war on terrorism, Bush said: "America encourages and expects governments everywhere to help remove the terrorist parasites that threaten their own countries and peace of the world."
He said the United States was actively assisting the governments of the Philippines, Georgia and Yemen to quell militants linked to al Qaida and said Yemen in particular was vulnerable. "In Yemen, we are working to avert the possibility of another Afghanistan," he said.
The event was to be one of four to mark the six-month anniversary of the September attacks. The others are in New York City, at the Pentagon, and at 10 Downing Street in London, where Vice President Richard Cheney is to join British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Cheney is on a 10-day tour of 11 Middle Eastern nations plus Britain.
