No crashers at D-Day ceremony

GERMAN Chancellor Helmut Kohl will not be present on Omaha Beach June 6, to his great displeasure. The chancellor's participation at the 50th anniversary celebration of the liberating landing, next to Francois Mitterrand, Bill Clinton, and the Queen of England, would have been the crowning glory of the political career of the man of state.

The affair is obviously delicate: What is being celebrated on Omaha Beach is the fraternity of the Allied armies....

Moreover, this celebration is not just an affair between French and Germans. It is not certain the British would have appreciated seeing the enemy of yesterday treated on the same level as the Allies. Therein lies the ambiguity.... It is hard to imagine Mr. Mitterrand celebrating next year with the Queen of England the 180th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.