40th anniversary of Berlin Wall

Berlin - Germany marked the 40th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall yesterday in sombre ceremonies coloured by anger at the prospect of the political descendants of East Germany's communists coming to power in the capital. Chancellor Gerhard Schr÷der, the Mayor, Mr Klaus Wowereit, and the parliamentary speaker, Mr Wolfgang Thierse - all from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) - were met with jeers at a wreath-laying ceremony at one of the last remaining stretches of the despised Wall.