Britain's Cameron visits 9/11 memorial

BY SAMANTHA HENRY

AND CRISTIAN SALAZAR

The Associated Press

British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife visited the memorial at the World Trade Center Thursday after touring businesses in Newark.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined Cameron and his wife, Samantha, at the memorial to victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The Camerons touched the bronze plaques inscribed with victims' names and gazed into the pools of water where the Twin Towers stood.

They also were joined by Charles Wolf, whose Welsh-born wife, Katherine, died at the trade center.

Cameron also held a question-and-answer session with students at New York University and visited the New York Stock Exchange. His flight back to England was scheduled for late Thursday.

At least 67 citizens of the United Kingdom died at the trade center on 9/11.

Wolf, whose wife had started a job with professional services firm Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. at the trade center just three weeks before she was killed, said it was an honor to meet Cameron.

"It was very, very nice for both he and his wife to come," Wolf said after their meeting. "It was very personal as well as being official."

Wolf referred to Cameron's son Ivan, who had cerebral palsy and severe epilepsy and died in 2009 at age 6. "Of course, they have had their own loss of their child, and when you are with someone who's had a recent loss like that, you know you are with people who get it, who care," Wolf said.

Before visiting the memorial, the Camerons toured One World Trade Center, the skyscraper under construction at the site. They admired the view from the 21st floor.

At New York University, Cameron took questions from college students and faculty about everything from the Syrian conflict to Scottish independence.

He highlighted the "special relationship" that the United States and Britain enjoy during his brief opening remarks Thursday during the question session at the school's Manhattan campus. He said his country should increase trade with its traditional partners like the United States.

Earlier Thursday, Cameron, with Newark Mayor Cory Booker as his guide, visited businesses in New Jersey that have gotten a boost from local government aid.

Cameron and Booker made several stops, including at a restaurant decorated for St. Patrick's Day and a coffee shop where the two men grabbed a table and talked.

Cameron arrived in the United States on Tuesday. His trip included a college basketball game with President Barack Obama and a state dinner at the White House.