Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi laid a wreath at the Memorial of the Unknown Soldier in Cairo’s Nasr City district on Monday, one day before the 47th anniversary of the 1973 war against Israel.
The 1973 Arab-Israeli War, known in Egypt as the 6 October War, was fought by a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria against Israel.
The war eventually led to Israeli forces withdrawing from the Sinai Peninsula on 25 April 1982 after 15 years of occupation, based on a peace treaty signed between Egypt and Israel in 1979.
Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said earlier that 8 October will be a paid holiday for civil servants and public sector workers in commemoration of the October War, instead of Tuesday.
This comes as part of the government’s decision earlier this year allocating Thursdays as an alternative to national holidays that coincide with other work days of the week.
The decision does not include the holiday of the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid El-Fitr, the four-day Eid El-Adha and Christmas.
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