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French President Nicolas Sarkozy has posted on Facebook a picture of himself at the Berlin Wall, saying he had chipped away at it with a pickaxe.The image shows Mr Sarkozy, then a 34-year-old French MP, standing before a graffiti-covered section of the wall.

His caption dates the image to 9 November 1989, but French observers say it was probably taken the next day.

Mr Sarkozy today joins world leaders in Berlin to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall.

'Enthusiastic crowd'

In the caption, the French president says he arrived in West Berlin with a group of French politicians on the morning of 9 November, crossed Checkpoint Charlie to the East, and headed for the Brandenburg gates.

"An enthusiastic crowd had gathered to welcome the looming opening of the Wall," he writes under the picture, posted on Sunday.

"We then headed for Checkpoint Charlie to see the eastern side of the city and finally confront this wall and I was able to take a pickaxe to it," he writes.

"The night continued in a climate of general enthusiasm: the German people were reunited, heralding the end of the Cold War and the beginning of a period of great freedom in Europe," he says in comments translated from French.

"It is this freedom that we are still defending in Europe and that we are celebrating 20 years on," writes Mr Sarkozy.

However, French commentators point to a possible mix-up of the dates.


They say news of the collapse did not come until late in the day on 9 November, and West Berliners did not begin attacking the Wall until the following day.