A Moroccan Army battalion arrived at the Syrian port of Latakia it was reported today to participate in “the fight against Israel.” Israeli officials dismissed the unit as a military threat and suggested that the dispatch of the troops to Syria may have been intended to reduce the threat of a military coup against King Hassan of Morocco.
According to Arab radio broadcasts, the landing of Moroccans in Syria represented a pledge by King Hassan to share the burden of the struggle against Israel with Israelis neighbors. The Moroccans will strengthen the Syrian lines in the Golan Heights, the Arab broadcasts said.
Morocco sent troops to Egypt when the Six Day War erupted but they arrived after hostilities had ended. Israeli. sources noted that Hassan, who has narrowly escaped several attempts on his life and fears a military coup, may have sent the battalion to Syria to keep it away from Rabat.
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