Foreign Victims List Complicates Count

The difficult and painful task of counting the missing from the World Trade Center attacks continued to vex New York’s mayor and police officials Friday as they tried to reconcile names on lists from various sources.

In exasperation, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said finally that officials had decided to set aside a fresh list of 1,200 foreign nationals until the city has time to verify that those listed were actually at the trade center during the Sept. 11 attacks.

Giuliani put the number of missing at 6,333, but cautioned that the figure could go up or down as new names are added and duplicated names are removed. The total was the same number released by the mayor Thursday.

Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik said numbers provided by embassies and consulates have been particularly inaccurate. He said city officials verified that only three of 75 names provided by one country and none of 56 names provided by another were people who were at the trade center on the day of the attacks.

The mayor said officials would “vet” the list of 1,200 foreign nationals received Friday. He said the final total could remain at around 6,300, or drop to as low as 4,000 or 5,000. “I don’t think anybody knows,” he said.

He added: “The problem is as we go through the 6,333 [missing], it’s likely to go down. But we’re also going to add more names to it, so it’s also going to go up.”

Kerik told reporters that the city is sifting through lists of missing people provided by city, county and state police agencies, by private companies and by families who visit the city’s emergency family center.

The number of confirmed deaths from the tragedy rose Friday by 11, to 252. Of that number, 170 victims have been identified. More than 6,000 people were injured, with 60 still hospitalized.

In an attempt to ease bureaucratic burdens on families with missing relatives, state regulators on Friday suspended a death certificate requirement for claiming life insurance benefits. The state insurance department said insurers must now accept affidavits as proof of death.

Because so few remains have been recovered and even fewer identified, families have been unable to obtain death certificates. The insurance department made an affidavit form available on its Web site.

Gov. George Pataki said New York City’s mayoral primary, originally scheduled for the day of the attack, will be held on Tuesday, despite the obvious inattention it is receiving. With the help of the state police and the National Guard, Giuliani said, security will be sufficient.

Giuliani is prevented by term limits from seeking another term. State election officials said he could not serve even if elected on a massive write-in vote--a suggestion that Pataki made Friday.

“The mayor’s been a great mayor and, I tell you, if I were a resident of New York City, I’d write him in,” Pataki said. Told by reporters of the governor’s remarks, Giuliani said solemnly, “I don’t feel like talking about politics. It seems very, very far from the things I should be concentrating on right now.”

Earlier, the mayor and governor toured the rain-sodden disaster site with Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller. Both visitors appeared stunned by the magnitude of the destruction.

“It’s unspeakable,” Ashcroft said, staring at the debris. “It’s just unspeakable.”

“Crazy,” Giuliani replied, and added: “The thing I don’t think has been focused on, they saved 25,000 people.”

Mueller, speaking to Pataki as the two stood at the edge of a mountain of debris, said: “We’ll get them. Sooner or later, we’ll get them.”

In a news conference later, Ashcroft promised $10 million in federal community policing funds to help the city cover police costs.

In Washington, the White House budget office began distributing $40 billion in emergency funds approved this week, allocating $5.1 billion to assist victims, pay for debris removal, search and rescue efforts, and, among other things, increased airport security. About $2 billion from the Federal Emergency Management Agency was designated for relief and recovery in New York.

At his daily news conference, Giuliani stressed that the massive effort at the disaster site will not change even after officials determine there is absolutely no chance of finding anyone alive. No survivors have been rescued since Sept. 12.

“We’re still going to remove things carefully,” he said. “We’re still going to be sensitive to making certain we find as many human remains as we can.”

As he has on most days since Sept. 11, Giuliani sought to serve as chief grief counselor to a suffering city. “You can mourn and you can be very sorrowful,” he told New Yorkers. “But at the same time, you can go on with your life. It’s OK. I mean, that’s part of grieving.

“When people feel comfortable with it, they really should go out and do things they normally do.”

He said he was following his own advice.

“There’s one thing I’ve been really missing, and I’m gonna really break down tonight,” he said, smiling. “I’m gonna go to a Mets game.”