US President Barack Obama is to visit Ground Zero, the site of the 9/11 attacks in New York, later on Thursday, four days after US forces killed al-Qaeda head Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.
Bin Laden was believed to be the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and many others.
Mr Obama will lay a wreath in memory of the victims and speak to relatives.
The visit comes a day after the US leader said graphic photographs of Bin Laden's body would not be made public.
The al-Qaeda leader was killed by US special forces in northern Pakistan on Monday. His body was then buried at sea from a US aircraft carrier.
The Pakistani military on Thursday admitted "shortcomings" for failing to locate Bin Laden and has said it will launch an investigation.
But it also warned it would review co-operation with the US if there were any more unilateral raids such as the one that killed Bin Laden.
Moment of reflection In New York Mr Obama will meet the families of those who died when the World Trade Center collapsed and those who tried to save them.
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Bin Laden's death: Views from Ground Zero
"He wants to meet with them and share with them this important and significant moment, a bitter-sweet moment, I think, for many families of the victims," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
However, Mr Obama is not scheduled to make a speech.
The BBC's Barbara Plett, in New York, says the Obama administration is very sensitive to accusations that the president is politicising his visit.
Thousands of people gathered at Ground Zero on Sunday night, waving flags and climbing street signs, as the news emerged that Bin Laden had been killed.
Ground Zero is now a building site, with construction scheduled for completion in 2013.
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[Mr Obama's] silent wreath-laying will be seen by millions and that image may too be a tool, in the president's campaign to be seen as above partisan politics”
As well as several office towers, the area will also house the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, which comprises a museum, waterfalls and a park.
Mr Obama has decided not to publish photos of Bin Laden's body, saying the images could pose a national security risk.
"It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence, as a propaganda tool. That's not who we are," Mr Obama said.
Our correspondent says there are mixed feelings in New York about the decision not to publish the pictures. While some want proof that it was Bin Laden who was killed, for others, the photos would reopen painful memories.
Anger in Pakistan Meanwhile, recriminations about Pakistan's failure to arrest Bin Laden continue.
On Thursday, the head of Pakistan's diplomatic service, Salman Bashir, again dismissed allegations his country's secret services had links to al-Qaeda, and said the investigation into the presence of Bin Laden in Abbottabad would reveal what failures there were.
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Some people in Pakistan want to see a photograph showing Bin Laden's dead body
Pakistan's army has long been seen as the most effective institution in an unstable country. However, Pakistani public opinion has been critical of the perceived violation of national sovereignty by the US raid.
Critics have raised concerns about the legality of the operation, after the US revised its account to acknowledge Bin Laden was unarmed when shot dead.
But the US has said Bin Laden was a lawful military target, whose killing was "an act of national self-defence".
Three other men and one woman died in Monday's assault, while one of the al-Qaeda leader's wives was injured.
US officials are going through computer hard drives, mobile phones and USB sticks found during the US Navy Seals raid on the compound in Abbottabad where Bin Laden was living.
US Attorney General Eric Holder said Washington expected to add more names to its terrorism watch-list as a result of data seized in the raid.
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