Sisi lays wreath at Unknown Soldier Memorial, mourns for Sadat

CAIRO – 24 April 2018: Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi laid a wreath of roses on the Memorial to the Unknown Soldier on Tuesday, marking the 36th anniversary of Sinai Liberation Day.

Sisi also laid a wreath on the tomb of late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, “the hero of war and peace,” and read “Al-Fatiha” (the first chapter of the Quran) for his spirit, which is an Islamic ritual performed to pray for someone.

Sisi was accompanied by Defense Minister Sedki Sobhi, Army Chief of Staff Mohamed Farid and the heads of the main military branches.

April 25 marks the liberation of Sinai Peninsula from Israeli occupation in 1982 following the Egypt-Israel peace treaty signed in Washington in 1979. The treaty was signed by Sadat and then-Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Israel had occupied Sinai during the Six-Day War in 1967.

Sadat went to war with Israel in October 1973. The October War was fought by a coalition of Arab states, led by Egypt and Syria, against Israel in Sinai and the Golan Heights.

Last month, President Sisi also delegated Sobhi and Farid to lay a wreath at the Unknown Soldier Memorial in Cairo’s Nasr City district, marking the "Veteran Warrior and Martyr Day" celebrated by the Armed Forces on March 9.