The key international celebration ceremony, the most important of a series of events marking the 60th anniversary of the D-Day Normandy Landing, is held in Arromanches, France Sunday afternoon.  

More than 20 leaders from 16 countries and thousands of World War II veterans are attending the high-profile event.

Arromanches is one of the key battle sites during the Normandy Landing operations where the first battle was fought.

The ceremony started with a 21-gun salute from a warship harbored in the English Channel and followed by a march of soldiers holding the national flags of the 14 countries that made the landing 60 years ago.

A group of veteran representatives marched on the familiar beaches in the scorching sun on foot or in armchairs, attracting along standing ovation from the leaders and general audience.

"At this auspicious moment, as we gather today on these Normandy beaches with the same emotion, history is again in the making," French President Jacques Chirac said in a short speech delivered at the ceremony.

"To you, on behalf of all French men and women, on behalf of all the heads of state and government gathered here today and of all freedom-loving people, I express our gratitude, our pride and our admiration," he told the veterans.

(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2004)