Sunday November 11 1:28 AM ET

Bush to Visit 'Tomb of Rubble' at Trade Center

By Patricia Wilson

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two months after hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center, President Bush on Sunday will pay homage at Ground Zero to the thousands who ``still lie in a tomb of rubble.''

A day after delivering a stern warning to the United Nations General Assembly that the world risked turning every city into ``a potential killing field'' if it failed to wage a decisive war against terrorism, Bush turned to the solemn tasks of remembering those who died on Sept. 11 and honoring America's war veterans.

At the World Trade Center, where smoke still rises from the pulverized twin towers, Bush and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan will listen as the names of the 80 nations that lost citizens are read aloud. As each is spoken, its flag will be raised and lowered. Bush will not make remarks at the somber ceremony.

``If we were to read the names of every person who died, it would take more than three hours,'' Bush said.

More than 4,600 people were killed when hijackers flew two planes into the Trade Center, one into the Pentagon in Washington and another into the ground in Pennsylvania.

Bush paid tribute to the spirit of New York in the first speech he has delivered before the General Assembly, saying the city had been ``scarred by violence.''

``A few miles from here, many thousands still lie in a tomb of rubble,'' he told representatives from more than 160 countries. ``It is our task, the task of this generation, to provide the response to aggression and terror.''

``The only alternative to victory is a nightmare world where every city is a potential killing field.''

Bush also will attend a breakfast at the Seventh Regiment Armory in New York City to commemorate the Nov. 11 armistice ending World War One and honor those who fought, and are fighting, in the American uniform.

``Tomorrow is a tribute to the veterans and a solemn event in memory of people who lost their lives in other countries,'' White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said on Saturday.

MEETS WORLD LEADERS

But Bush will also attend to the business of rallying countries to his anti-terror effort and the military campaign to rid Afghanistan of its Taliban rulers and their ``guest'' Saudi extremist, Osama bin Laden, who has been blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks.

The U.S. president, who met the leaders of six countries on Saturday, will hold talks with Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Andres Pastrana of Colombia and Fernando de la Rua of Argentina before returning to Washington.

In the meeting with de la Rua, Bush also was expected to review Argentina's financial situation. In advance of the talks with Bush, White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice urged him to follow through on a zero-deficit plan.

Rice said Bush would discuss the importance of de la Rua showing leadership in taking steps to right the Argentine economy, adding that Washington would be supportive of ''measures that Argentina can take internally to create a more sustainable situation.''

``Argentina has a zero-deficit plan that it really must carry out in order to make its situation sustainable,'' she added. ``We are encouraging Argentina to work closely with the IMF to determine the best course toward sustainability.''

``The president will carry that message to President de la Rua,'' Rice told reporters.

De la Rua fought last week to convince political opponents to sign an austerity deal desperately needed before meeting Bush on Sunday to ask for support for a record debt swap even as the country confronts default.

Trying to end a three-year recession that made Argentina's $132 billion public debt almost unpayable, de la Rua must win an accord with reluctant provincial governors if the IMF is to aid -- again -- Latin America's No. 3 economy.

By squeezing through a deal, de la Rua would show investors his unpopular and divided center-left government has the political mettle to meet its promise to end deficit spending -- a condition for International Monetary Fund aid.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2001