Former US President Bill Clinton gave a speech last night at the memorial ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the terrorist attack in Oklahoma City in the US state of the same name, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
The memory of the 168 victims of the deadliest attack carried out on American soil by a US citizen was honored, the agency said.
The 42nd US President Clinton, during whose first term the attack took place, said that it shocked the country, but at the same time showed the best of American citizens. People from all over the country have helped, he noted, drawing attention to the current deep division. Instead, the United States needs the "Oklahoma Standard", said Clinton, who served as president from 1993 to 2001.
"If we all lived by that standard, we would be a lot better off," Clinton said. "We would have a more competitive economy, a more stable society. We would understand each other, and we wouldn't feel weak if we admitted our mistakes," he added.
Right-wing political anti-government extremist Timothy McVeigh detonated a powerful bomb in front of the "Alfred P. Murrah" federal administration building at 9:02 a.m. local time on April 19, 1995. in downtown Oklahoma City.
Among the 168 victims were 19 children.
"Within seconds, the area resembled a war zone. A third of the building was gone," the FBI report on the tragedy, cited by DPA, said.