Obama in short Germany visit ahead of D-Day landmark
On eve of 65th anniversary of D-Day landings, Barack Obama visits Germany
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Friday, 05, Jun 2009 10:30
On the day before the 65th anniversary of the Normandy landings, Barack Obama is in Germany today to visit a city levelled by Allied bombing.
Fresh from his visit to the Middle East, the United States president is due in the city of Dresden to meet with German chancellor Angela Merkel.
Considered the Baroque jewel of eastern Germany, Dresden was virtually razed in the death throes of Nazi Germany with thousands dying in the process.
Germany is awash with rumours that the White House has scaled back the extent of a stroll around Dresden with Ms Merkel after she blocked his request to deliver an address before Berlin's Brandenburg Gate as the Democratic nominee for the presidency last July.
President Obama's Germany trip, which will include talks with Ms Merkel on bilateral issues, will also see him visit Buchenwald, the concentration camp liberated in 1945.
The president's great-uncle Charles Payne was among the US soldiers who liberated a satellite camp of Buchenwald.
Tomorrow he will attend the 65th anniversary commemorations of D-Day in Normandy with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy.
Gordon Brown and Prince Charles will also be in attendance on Saturday.