<p>Panetta visited the National September 11 Memorial park and museum at the World Trade Centre site here as the US readies to commemorate the 9/11 anniversary.<br />"They continue to plan attacks and I do not think we can take anything for granted," Panetta told reporters after visiting Ground Zero.<br /><br />"The potential for that kind of attack remains very real," he said adding that Americans must be vigilant against this threat.<br /><br />He, however added that with some of al-Qaeda's top leaders, including Osama bin Laden now dead, the terror outfit has weakened in the decade following the 9/11 strikes that killed about 3000 people.<br /><br />"We can take great pride that since 9/11 we have achieved very significant success in going after Al-Qaeda, in going after Al-Qaeda’s leadership," he said adding that it is critical to maintain pressure on the terrorist organisation.<br /><br />Panetta cautioned that sections of the Al-Qaeda outfit remain active outside Afghanistan and Pakistan in places like Somalia and Yemen.<br /><br />"Yemen has risen to the top of the list," he said.Panetta added that the arrest of senior al-Qaeda leader Younis al-Mauritani in Quetta, Pakistan "is a tribute to the Pakistanis who worked with us in this effort."<br /><br />"It is an encouraging sign that we have gotten the Pakistanis to work with us in this kind of effort," he said.<br /><br />Accompanied by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Panetta toured the 8-acre memorial, which centers on the sites of the former towers.<br /><br />It has now been transformed to square, granite reflecting pools, each about an acre in size.<br /><br />Each pool is fed by four 30-foot waterfalls that descend from ground level, and the pools drain into a 'center void' at the bottom of each.<br /><br />The theme of the pools is 'reflecting absence'.The site also has the 'Survivor Tree', a pear tree that was rescued from the World Trade center site after the terrorist attacks.<br />Names of all the people who died in the attacks have been inscribed in bronze panels that border the reflecting pools at the site.<br /><br />Panetta said the terrorist attacks of a decade ago brought the nation together in a commitment that such horror "will never happen again."<br /><br />"As tragic as 9/11 was, we have drawn tremendous inspiration (from it)," he said, adding that those who attacked the US in an attempt to weaken the country actually made it stronger</p>
<p>Panetta visited the National September 11 Memorial park and museum at the World Trade Centre site here as the US readies to commemorate the 9/11 anniversary.<br />"They continue to plan attacks and I do not think we can take anything for granted," Panetta told reporters after visiting Ground Zero.<br /><br />"The potential for that kind of attack remains very real," he said adding that Americans must be vigilant against this threat.<br /><br />He, however added that with some of al-Qaeda's top leaders, including Osama bin Laden now dead, the terror outfit has weakened in the decade following the 9/11 strikes that killed about 3000 people.<br /><br />"We can take great pride that since 9/11 we have achieved very significant success in going after Al-Qaeda, in going after Al-Qaeda’s leadership," he said adding that it is critical to maintain pressure on the terrorist organisation.<br /><br />Panetta cautioned that sections of the Al-Qaeda outfit remain active outside Afghanistan and Pakistan in places like Somalia and Yemen.<br /><br />"Yemen has risen to the top of the list," he said.Panetta added that the arrest of senior al-Qaeda leader Younis al-Mauritani in Quetta, Pakistan "is a tribute to the Pakistanis who worked with us in this effort."<br /><br />"It is an encouraging sign that we have gotten the Pakistanis to work with us in this kind of effort," he said.<br /><br />Accompanied by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Panetta toured the 8-acre memorial, which centers on the sites of the former towers.<br /><br />It has now been transformed to square, granite reflecting pools, each about an acre in size.<br /><br />Each pool is fed by four 30-foot waterfalls that descend from ground level, and the pools drain into a 'center void' at the bottom of each.<br /><br />The theme of the pools is 'reflecting absence'.The site also has the 'Survivor Tree', a pear tree that was rescued from the World Trade center site after the terrorist attacks.<br />Names of all the people who died in the attacks have been inscribed in bronze panels that border the reflecting pools at the site.<br /><br />Panetta said the terrorist attacks of a decade ago brought the nation together in a commitment that such horror "will never happen again."<br /><br />"As tragic as 9/11 was, we have drawn tremendous inspiration (from it)," he said, adding that those who attacked the US in an attempt to weaken the country actually made it stronger</p>