Spanish press: Moroccan King 'most distinguished figure in Madrid ceremony'
Morocco-Spain, Politics, 3/12/2005

The Spanish press described Saturday the presence of King Mohammed VI of Morocco in the memorial ceremony of Madrid attacks victims as the "most distinguished" among foreign dignitaries.

The Moroccan king participated Friday in the memorial ceremony that took place in the Retiro Park, where 192 olive and cypress trees (christened Forest of the Absent) were planted in memory of the victims of the train bombings of 11 March 2004. The ceremony, presided by king Juan Carlos, was attended by several heads of state and government, UN chief Kofi Annan and world dignitaries.

"El Pais" newspaper dedicated a long article to the participation of King Mohammed VI in the memorial ceremony, citing passages of the statement he made to Europa press agency wherein he hails the "sense of discernment shown by the Spanish people who have been living for several years in serenity and friendship by the side of hundreds of thousands of Moroccans in Spain."

"King Mohammed VI has observed silence in the ceremony of the Forest of the Absents in Retiro Park (É) but he made via his embassy a written statement to express to the Spanish people "all my all my support and the total solidarity of the Moroccan people'" in the first anniversary of the attacks, wrote the paper.

"Mohammed VI is the foreign dignitary that caught most of the attention yesterday," in the ceremony, noted El Mundo, which also highlighted the statement of the king wherein he says that the two countries have "common wounds." The king was referring to Madrid blasts and to Casablanca attacks that claimed the lives of 45 people on 16 May 2003.

"Morocco's king, who feels united with the Spanish royal family by friendship links, has talked a few minutes with prince Felipe at the end of the ceremony," pointed out El Mundo.

Similarly, "La Razon," noted that the presence of king Mohammed VI was the most distinguished, underlining that "king Juan Carlos warmly welcomed the king of Morocco."

"In the eve of the ceremony, Prince Moulay Rachid (younger brother of King Mohammed VI), read out, in the name of the king, a speech that highlighted counter-terrorism cooperation with Spain," recalled the paper.

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