US President Barack Obama has paid tribute to the heroes of D-Day, saying their assault on Normandy's beaches 65 years ago had helped save the world from evil and tyranny.
Addressing veterans, Mr Obama said the World War II represented a special moment in history when nations fought together to battle a murderous ideology.
‘We live in a world of competing beliefs and claims about what is true,’ he said. ‘In such a world, it is rare for a struggle to emerge that speaks to something universal about humanity. The Second World War did that.’
His visit to Normandy came at the end of a rapid tour through Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Germany and France, where Obama has tried to reach out to the Muslim world and press for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
Speaking at the US military cemetery at Colleville, where 9,387 US soldiers lie, Mr Obama said the war against Nazi Germany laid the way for years of peace and prosperity.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper joined Mr Obama at today’s ceremony held under bright skies - a stark contrast to the winds and rain that marked D-Day.
Mr Obama has been seeking to repair ties with France and other European states who were alienated by his predecessor George W Bush's go-it-alone diplomacy, the US-led invasion of Iraq and his policies on climate change.
Earlier, he held talks with Mr Sarkozy, where the two said they were determined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Mr Obama also promised an uncompromising stance against North Korea, which tested a nuclear bomb last month.
On a more personal note, he also saluted his grandfather, Stanley Dunham, who arrived in Normandy a month after D-Day, and his great uncle, Charles Payne, who was present at the ceremony and was in the first American division to liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp.
