Merkel pulls out of WW1 commemoration

Angela Merkel has pulled out of the French-led First World War commemorations being held today after President Sarkozy decided to swap the venue at the last minute from Paris to Verdun, the battleground where the Germans have long been portrayed as acting like industrialised killers.

"She's annoyed that Sarkozy has chosen a symbol of Germany's shameful militaristic past," said one of the organisers of the event, which is being attended by numerous heads of state along with Prince Charles and his wife Camilla. "The kind of dignified ceremony which has taken place in Paris for decades would have been perfectly appropriate."

Some would say she has a point. Verdun, fought over by the Germans and French over 11 months in 1916, was the longest single battle in military history and claimed 250,000 lives without any strategic gain on either side. The German commanding officer, General Erich von Falkenhayn, was dubbed "The Blood-Miller of Verdun" after announcing that he intended to "bleed France white".

But it's not only Merkel who is annoyed. British officials have been left wondering why an exclusively Franco-German battlefield was chosen, rather than an equally evocative site like the Somme. Adds the source: "We know that the British are also upset because battles like the Somme are considered far more important to them than Verdun. Again, it would have been much easier to stage the event in a relatively neutral city like Paris, where no serious fighting took place." ·