Leaders hail Wall fall, vow to topple new barriers

By Knut Engelmann

BERLIN (Reuters) - World leaders hailed the ordinary people who helped bring down the Berlin Wall and said the historic events of 20 years ago showed nations were capable of rising to new challenges, from terrorism to climate change.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and leaders from Britain, France and Russia greeted tens of thousands who braved pouring rain at the Brandenburg Gate on Monday evening to celebrate the anniversary of the Wall's collapse, which paved the way for German unification and the end of the Cold War.

"Together we brought down the Iron Curtain and I am convinced this can give us the strength for the 21st century," said Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany and crossed the Wall herself the night of November 9, 1989.

"Our good fortune obliges us to take on the challenges of our time," she added.

The grim weather did not prevent people from packing the square in front of the Gate, once a desolate no-man's land and now a powerful symbol of a reunified Germany.

Countless others watched from balconies, while some lined side streets to catch a glimpse of the leaders as they strode through the Gate from East to West, retracing the steps of Berliners who stormed the Wall 20 years ago.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the Wall's collapse was a call to "fight against the walls that still exist in our world and which still divide cities, regions and nations."

His Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev called for the building of a "new, better world" and a common battle against economic crisis, crime, terrorism and poverty.