Leaders at a 38-nation Asia-Europe summit stood in silence Monday, remembering those killed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks five years ago in the United States. The heads of state _ including those from the 25-nation European Union, China, Japan and South Korea _ also vowed at the Asia-Europe Meeting in Helsinki, Finland, to stay the course in combatting terrorism. The leaders rose from their seats and stood silent in a circle for about a minute in a large, red-carpeted meeting room in a huge Helsinki conference center. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao bowed their heads and kept their arms at their sides. The European leaders generally looked forward and appeared solemn, the Associated Press reported. «These horrific attacks clearly demonstrated that terrorism is a threat to all states and to all peoples,» the European Union said in a statement issued by Finland, the current holder of the rotating EU presidency. «It poses a serious threat to our security, to the values of our democratic societies and to the rights and freedoms of people, especially through the indiscriminate targeting of innocent people. No cause, no grievance, can justify acts of terrorism,» the EU presidency said, adding that the fight against terrorism remains a «priority» for the 25-nation bloc. Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a jetliner that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The summit opened Sunday amid pledges to step up counterterrorism strategies that include countering radicalism, preventing the financing of terrorist networks and promoting interfaith dialogue.