King Mohammed performs Friday prayers

King Mohammed Ben Al-Hassan, Commander of the Faithful, performed this Friday his first public Friday prayers at Ahl Fass Mosque (near the Royal Palace of Rabat), a week after he was proclaimed king of Morocco.

Performing the first public prayers this day, a week after the demise of the late King Hassan II, confirms King Mohammed Ben Al-Hassan as the Commander of the Faithful, a religious authority assumed by all the kings of the Alawite Dynasty, said the official moroccan news agency.

King Mohammed Ben Al-Hassan was greeted after the Friday prayers by the ambassadors of the Arab and Islamic countries accredited to Rabat, some foreign guests including former Sudanese President Marshall Abderrrahmane Mohamed Sewar Eddahab and Lebanon's mufti, Sheikh Mohamed Rashid Kabbani.

After he returned to the royal palace on horseback, the king was greeted by the princes, the speakers of the two chambers of the parliament, the Cabinet members, senior army officers and other personalities.

Hundreds of people flocked to the Mechouar Essaid where the palace is located to renew allegiance and attachment to the new king and faithfulness to the Alaouite throne.

King Mohammed Ben Al-Hassan will address the nation this Friday evening, in a Throne Speech that is expected to trace the king's orientations, decisions and the way he will continue the work of his late father.