MOROCCO A FRIEND IN WASHINGTON IN WASHINGTON'S UNION STATION LAST WEEK, THE 
PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD'S ANCIENT PRIVATE CAR NO . 1750 CAME TO A 
HESITANT STOP . CLEARLY UNCERTAIN OF THE ENGINEER'S INTENTIONS, KING HASSAN 
II OF MOROCCO DESCENDED CAUTIOUSLY TO THE PLATFORM, THEN DISPLAYED A 
BIG, ENGAGING SMILE AS HE SHOOK HANDS WITH PRESIDENT KENNEDY, AND 
TURNED WITH EVEN MORE WARMTH TO JACKIE KENNEDY, SMARTLY CLAD IN 
A SPRING DRESS AND COAT, AND DARK BLUE STRAW HAT . 
LOVELY RIVAL . KING HASSAN EVEN PRODUCED A RIVAL FOR JACKIE 
IN HIS LOVELY SISTER, PRINCESS LALLA NEZHA, 22, WHO WAS GREETED 
WITH A BOUQUET OF RED ROSES . ALL THE PROPER PROTOCOL 
WAS LAID ON, FROM A 50-YD . RED CARPET TO AN 
HONOR GUARD . " WE ARE PROUD TO WELCOME YOU, YOUR 
MAJESTY, " SAID THE PRESIDENT TO THE KING . " YOUR 
COUNTRY WAS THE FIRST TO RECOGNIZE THE U.S . IN THE 
MOST DIFFICULT DAYS OF OUR REVOLUTION . " KING HASSAN RESPONDED 
BY SAYING THAT HE HAD COME TO THE U.S . " 
TO RENEW MY ACQUAINTANCE WITH YOUR PEOPLE, TO MEET YOU AND 
YOUR GOVERNMENT . " THIRTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD KING HASSAN ALSO BROUGHT WITH HIM 
CRATES OF GIFTS ; BUT LEFT BEHIND IN RABAT WAS A 
SMALL, SHINY GREY HORSE WITH THE MOROCCAN COLORS OF RED AND 
GREEN PLAITED IN ITS MANE, WHICH HAD BEEN INTENDED FOR CAROLINE 
. THE STATE DEPARTMENT WAS COURTEOUSLY ADAMANT : NO MORE HORSES 
FOR THE WHITE HOUSE . KING HASSAN CHOSE THE U.S . 
FOR HIS FIRST STATE VISIT OUTSIDE AFRICA TO DEMONSTRATE THAT MOROCCO, 
THOUGH OFFICIALLY UNALIGNED, KNOWS THAT ITS REAL INTEREST LIES WITH THE 
WEST . INDEED, IN THE TWO YEARS SINCE HIS FATHER DIED, 
HASSAN HAS PROVED TO BE A SENSIBLE LEADER OF MOROCCO'S 11.6 
MILLION PEOPLE . THREE LOVELY DAYS . BETWEEN BANQUETS AND RECEPTIONS, 
THE KING AND THE PRESIDENT GOT TO KNOW AND LIKE EACH 
OTHER . HASSAN EVEN CANCELED A SCHEDULED VISIT TO THE NAVAL 
ACADEMY AT ANNAPOLIS IN ORDER TO HAVE ADDITIONAL TALKS WITH KENNEDY 
. THEIR CONVERSATION RANGED OVER MANY WORLD PROBLEMS, FROM MIDDLE EAST 
TENSIONS TO CUBA, TO NATO . THERE WAS ALSO QUIET AFFIRMATION 
OF DECISIONS ALREADY TAKEN, INCLUDING THE U.S . PLEDGE TO EVACUATE 
THREE BIG SAC AIRFIELDS AND A NAVAL BASE IN MOROCCO BY 
YEAR'S END, AND TO CONTINUE AN UNSPECIFIED AMOUNT OF FINANCIAL AID 
TO HASSAN'S KINGDOM (LAST YEAR'S TOTAL : $30 MILLION) . KING 
HASSAN WAS IMPRESSED BY HIS HOSPITABLE RECEPTION, WHICH INCLUDED SPECIAL ENTERTAINMENT 
AT THE WHITE HOUSE (SCENES FROM BRIGADOON), AN UNUSUAL WELCOME FROM 
100,000 WASHINGTONIANS LINING THE STREETS, AND THREE OF THE LOVELIEST SPRING 
DAYS IN WASHINGTON MEMORY . THE STATE DEPARTMENT LIKED THE INGELLIGENCE 
AND COMPETENCE DISPLAYED BY KING HASSAN THROUGHOUT THE SESSIONS, HIS SERIOUS 
PREOCCUPATION WITH HIS OWN REGION OF NORTH AFRICA, HIS JUDICIOUS COMMENT 
THAT MOROCCO WOULD JOIN AN ARAB UNION HEADED BY EGYPT'S NASSER 
ONLY AFTER CAREFUL STUDY HAD SHOWN SUCH UNION TO BE " 
IN THE COMMON GOOD . " THE WASHINGTON CONSENSUS : KING 
HASSAN IS A " MODERN REFORMIST " IN THE TRADITION OF 
THE SHAH OF IRAN . AS EARLY AS SPRING 1776, FRANCE 
WAS SECRETLY AIDING THE INFANT U.S . AGAINST BRITAIN WITH MONEY 
AND MUNITIONS . EARLY IN 1778, THE SULTAN OF MOROCCO IMPETUOUSLY 
DECIDED TO RECOGNIZE THE U.S . GOVERNMENT AND, BECAUSE OF COMMUNICATIONS 
DIFFICULTY, TRIED TO DO SO THROUGH A FRENCH EMISSARY . FRANCE 
SLIPPED IN AHEAD, RECOGNIZING THE U.S . ON FEB . 6, 
1778, V . FEB . 20 FOR MOROCCO, WHICH, BECAUSE OF 
PRIOR INTENT, STILL LIKES TO THINK IT HOLDS FIRST PLACE . 
