Obama Plays Down Controversy Over Berlin Speech

German Chancellor Angela Merkel`s spokesman said on Wednesday that she frowned on any speech at the Brandenburg gate.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama played down a controversy in Germany over whether he should speak at Berlin's historic Brandenburg Gate, saying he did not want the venue to distract from his message.

Obama's tentative plans to hold a speech in late July at the Brandenburg Gate have exposed simmering tensions in the German government, an uneasy alliance between the main conservative and centre-left parties.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Wednesday that she frowned on any speech at the gate, a symbol of German unity.

Asked during a flight to San Diego on Saturday night whether he wanted to speak at the Brandenburg Gate, Obama said the message was more important than the venue of the speech.

"We had been trying to coordinate with folks on the ground in terms of finding an appropriate site, but we didn't have a particular site in mind," Obama said. "I want to make sure that my message is heard as opposed to creating a controversy."

"Our goal is just for me to lay out how I think about the next administration's role in rebuilding our trans-Atlantic alliance. And so I don't want the venue to be a distraction," he said.

Obama, a first term Illinois senator, is planning a trip to Europe and the Mideast this summer to bolster his foreign policy credentials -- one of the strong points of his Republican opponent, John McCain, in the November election.

The German government has denied that Washington put pressure on Merkel to block the proposed Obama speech. German newspapers reported Bush administration officials had signaled their reservations about Obama speaking at the landmark.

A conservative ally of Merkel said on Saturday Obama should not speak at the Brandenburg Gate because he played no role in German unification.

A focal point of Cold War tensions, West Berlin was kept free during a Soviet blockade six decades ago by a U.S.-led Air Lift. Since then, American leaders from John Kennedy to Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton have delivered major speeches in Berlin.