French president thanks US ahead of D-Day anniversary

French President Jacques Chirac on Friday thanked Americans ahead of the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion that eventually liberated France from Nazi occupation in World War Two.

Speaking in English in an NBC television interview, Chirac said:"I just want to say at the end that the only message I would like to remain of our talk is the following: for the Normandy US-British liberation of Nazi-occupied France 60 years ago:

The French say 'thank you' to the Americans and they will not forget what they have done 60 years ago. And that is very, very important in our minds and in our hearts."

US President George W. Bush is currently visiting Europe to try to repair transatlantic relations badly strained by the Iraq war. France has been among the countries that were strongly opposed to the Iraq war.

To mend ties with France and rally European support, Bush said on Wednesday that he was never angry with the French in an interview with the weekly Paris Match.

The D-Day ceremonies will mark the June 6, 1944 landings on the Normandy beaches by the allied troops in a campaign to drive German forces from France which ultimately led to the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War Two.

Source: Xinhua