First of all, it should be recalled that the King of Morocco, as is traditional in the monarchy, decided to personally cover all the costs of repatriation and burial of the French paratrooper of Moroccan origin, the late Imad ibn Ziaten, killed in Toulouse by a French terrorist of Algerian origin.

On 23 March 2012, the Muslims of the Normandy region (north-west of Paris) paid a final tribute to his memory in a mosque near Rouen, the deceased's hometown.

A military ceremony then took place on 24 March in the late afternoon at Orly airport, in the Paris region, before the transfer to Morocco of the remains of Staff Sergeant Imad Ibn Ziaten.

In M'diq, a city in northern Morocco, several thousand people followed the coffin of Imad Ibn Ziaten on 25 March 2012, carried by French and Moroccan soldiers.

Present on the French side were the French Secretary of State for Defence in charge of Veterans, Marc Laffineur, as well as a dozen French officers, but also the National Secretary for Cooperation, Francophonie, and Human Rights of the Socialist Party, Mr. Pouria Amirshahi, representative of François Hollande, the Socialist candidate for the French presidential elections.

On the Moroccan side, those who attended the funeral included Mr. Omar Azziman, Advisor to the King, the Minister of the Interior, Mohand Laenser, the Minister of Habous and Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Taoufiq, the Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister in charge of the Administration of National Defence, Abdellatif Loudiyi, the Inspector of Infantry, General Nejjar, and Mohamed Kettani, mission head at the Royal Cabinet.

During a ceremony, the message of condolence addressed by the Moroccan Sovereign to the family of the late Imad was read and delivered by his advisor to the father and mother of the martyr soldier.

It should be noted that the latter wished to salute this gesture, which testifies to the royal solicitude with which the Sovereign has always surrounded Moroccans, whether inside or outside the country. They thus expressed their most sincere thanks and their feelings of gratitude and recognition to the King.

For its part, the official French delegation presented the family of Imad Ben Ziaten with the red beret and the medals that testify to his brilliant and exceptional career within the French paratrooper regiment of Toulouse.

Remarkably, it is extremely rare for two armies to pay tribute to a victim. But the deceased was of Moroccan origin. However, Morocco never forgets its sons, even if they have acquired another nationality and serve another country. A Moroccan will remain a Moroccan forever and cannot be stripped of his primary nationality.

This is why the Moroccan Sovereign, in his capacity as Supreme Chief and Chief of General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces, gave his agreement for the deceased's military colleagues to be present in military uniform during the funeral.

This royal gesture was hailed by all Moroccans abroad, the Moroccan people, the deceased's French military colleagues, but also by the French and Moroccan political class as well as the national and international press.

Proof has therefore been given once again that the King of Morocco is close to his people, who love and support him in all his initiatives for the greatness of Morocco.