Rabat readies for royal wedding starting Friday

Rabat, Morocco's capital city, is preparing for the royal wedding, due to start as of Friday.

Throughout the past days, this millenary imperial city has been undergoing an all-out lifting, with its streets being re-embellished and buildings re-painted.

Flags and banners were planted in the city's major squares and streets, and gardens, replanted with new trees and flowers, are generously watered to be in full blossom when the festivities start.

The Rabat population can only applaud the care their city is being granted. "We are more than proud that His Majesty the King decided to hold his wedding ceremonies in Rabat," says an inhabitant.

"It's only normal that the city be embellished in this way," says another inhabitant, who adds "the King's marriage is a very special occasion and it happens only once in a life-time."

The marriage act of HM King Mohammed VI to Lalla Salma was officially sealed last March 21 at the royal palace in Rabat. The festivities were initially scheduled to be held in the city of Marrakesh last April, but the king had cancelled them after the reoccupation by Israel of Palestinian territories and the besieging of Chairman Yasser Arafat of Palestine in his headquarters in Ramallah.

Part of the preparations for the Royal wedding, more than 600 traditional Moroccan tents were put up in several parts of Rabat and its twin city, Sale. And 1500 horsemen will perform the typically Moroccan fantasia. Popular music troupes from all parts of Morocco will join the festivities.

"We are more than gratified to share with His Majesty the King his joy," says an inhabitant.

The festivities to mark the King's wedding made of Rabat the kibla of Moroccans from different parts of the country. Several of the city's dwellers even cancelled or put off their holidays just to attend the festivities.

"We heard that Moroccans and foreigners are flocking to Rabat from different parts of the world. So, how come that we, the inhabitants of Rabat, miss such an auspicious occasion," says another Rbati.