French Leaders Mark WWII Anniversary

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, May 09, 2003

French Leaders Mark WWII Anniversary

French President Jacques Chirac marked the 58th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Thursday to honor those who died fighting.

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French President Jacques Chirac marked the 58th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Thursday to honor those who died fighting.

Chirac was joined at the monument, which is at the foot of the Arc de Triomph, by Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe.

Spectators lined the tree-lined Champs-Elysees boulevard to watch a military parade, as Chirac shook hands with more than 100 veterans who attended the annual ceremony. France lost nearly 600,000 people in the war.

On May 7, 1945, German representatives surrendered to the Supreme Allied Commander, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in Reims, France, with an Allied victory announced the following day. World War II ended later in 1945 with the Japanese surrender.

In 1953, the French government declared May 8 a public holiday.

Source: Agencies

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