Sadat Visits Religious Sites

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat prayed early today in the Moslem mosque of Al Aksa at the start of his first full day in Israel. He was greeted by applause and cheers by the 1500 Arab men who were allowed into the 1200-year-old stone building to pray for the first day of the Al-Adha sacrificial feast which commemorates Abraham taking Isaac to be sacrificed.

The Egyptian leader was surrounded by a tight ring of Israeli and Egyptian security men and other security personnel kept a close watch on the entire crowd throughout the 45-minute prayer service inside the silver-domed building.

After removing his shoes to enter, Sadat walked to the front of the carpeted building between the two rooms of massive marble columns and sat cross-legged on the floor, with several turbaned Moslem leaders and personal aides surrounding him.

SOMBER AND SERIOUS THROUGHOUT CEREMONY

Sadat swayed gently from side to side as the Moslem prayer chants were heard, and he at first fingered a string of small green prayer beads, but later put them into his pocket. At least six times the Egyptian President took a white handkerchief from the breast pocket of his grey suit and wiped the perspiration from his face.

He raised his hands to the side of his face with the numerous Arabic chants of “Allah is great” and also knelt over in prayer, his head touching the ground. Sadat appeared somber and serious throughout the ceremony and listened attentively to the discourse delivered by the mosque’s religious leader who said abandoning Jerusalem is like abandoning Mecca, and urged full rights for the Palestinian people.

The heavy security in the mosque was especially visible as the several dozen plainclothes men remained standing while all other worshippers knelt in prayer. Sadat proceeded across the Temple Mount towards the Dome of the Rock near Al Aksa. A crowd of more than 1000 people outside Al Aksa chanted “Sadat-Palestine” and blue uniformed policemen linked arms to prevent the crowd from surging forward.

From the Temple Mount Sadat proceeded to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where dignitaries from the various Christian denominations greeted him. Here, too, there was enthusiastic applause and cheering as the Egyptian leader entered the church. From the church he returned to his quarters at the King David Hotel to await Premier Menachem Begin and his aides to escort him to the Yad Vashem memorial.

SERIES OF MEETINGS ARRANGED

The Israeli Premier was, meanwhile, chairing a Cabinet meeting at his office at which the ministers were considering detailed political proposals to be put to Sadat at the series of political discussions to be held with him.

The first of these was a half-hour meeting with Begin, Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan and Deputy Premier Yigael Yadin at the hotel last night. But it is understood the two sides did not go into specifics at this encounter. More businesslike working sessions were set for later today after the return from Yad Vashem, and this was to go on through a “working lunch.” Dayan and Yadin were to flank Begin at the lunch, and Sadat was also to be accompanied by two aides.

There was to be a “working dinner,” too, after the Knesset session. This dinner was to be attended by 12 to 15 people on each side. Whatever else happens as a result of Sadat’s visit, Israel, and especially Jerusalem, can never be the same again. This weekend the nation’s capital was different than any other weekend. Egyptian flags, Egyptian officials, Egyptian journalists and an international focusing, hour-by-hour, on the events here had an impact which can hardly be overstated.