King Hassan lauds Moroccan - Egyptian solidarity, October War day remembered

King Hassan II lauded the feelings of solidarity binding Morocco and Egypt.

In a congratulations message to president Husni Mubarak on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the October War with Israel, the king said these very feelings had "prompted us to dispatch a contingent of our army so that the Moroccan serviceman be in the same trench with his Egyptian brethren, materializing thus Morocco's full solidarity with Egypt for the recovery of its sovereignty on the eastern part of the channel and Sinai."

The king hailed the courage and self-denial of the Egyptian army and underlined Egypt's vanguard role in defending the fair causes of the Arab-Islamic nation.

The Egyptian army launched a surprise attack on October 6, 1973 and crossed the Suez Canal into the Sinai peninsula, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War.

The Arabs hailed the crossing as a victory that avenged the shame of the 1967 defeat.