Germany not to deny its wartime crimes: president

　　BERLIN, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- German President Joachim Gauck saidFriday that his country has reached reconciliation with its formerenemies as it no longer denies the crimes it has committed, mediahere reported.

　　"We know who started that murderous war," Gauck said at aceremony in the eastern city of Dresden commemorating the 70thanniversary of the city's bombing. "That is why we will neverforget the victims of German warfare, even as we remember here andnow the German victims."

　　"We are no longer prepared to deny or defend transgressions andcrimes committed in our country's name," he said.

　　On Feb. 13, 1945, Dresden, once known as Florence on the Elbe,was bombed to ruins by the Allied air force. Up to 25,000 peoplewere estimated to be killed in the raid.

　　"A country, which ... (committed) an atrocity like genocide,could not expect to emerge unpunished and undamaged from a war,which it itself unleashed," Gauck said.

　　"We remember all those who lost their lives at the time asvictims of the war and violence, not only in Dresden, but alsoelsewhere," said Gauck, addressing guests including representativesfrom Britain, Poland, Russia and other countries in Dresden'sChurch of Our Lady, a symbolic building which was destroyed by thebombing and reconstructed after the war with donations from aroundthe world.

　　The president said the reconstruction of the church reflectedreconciliation as it received support from the war time enemies.Ten years ago, when the church was reopened, delegates fromCoventry, a city in central England, presented a cross made ofthree large carpentry nails found in the beams of the city'scathedral after its destruction by German bombs.

　　"Once the ruins of the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) servedto remind us of the horrors of war. Today the rebuilt church is asymbol of peace and reconciliation," Gauck said. Enditem