Moroccan Senate President Delays Trip to Israel Due to Illness

Morocco's senate president Enaam Mayara. Asharq Al-Awsat
Morocco's senate president Enaam Mayara. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Moroccan Senate President Delays Trip to Israel Due to Illness

Morocco's senate president Enaam Mayara. Asharq Al-Awsat
Morocco's senate president Enaam Mayara. Asharq Al-Awsat

Morocco's senate president has postponed a visit to Israel due to a medical emergency, the Israeli parliament announced Wednesday.

The announcement came just a day before Enaam Mayara was scheduled to visit Israel's Knesset, or parliament, on a trip aimed at cementing relations between the two countries.

The Knesset issued a statement late Wednesday saying that Mayara had been hospitalized during a stop in neighboring Jordan. He was forced to reschedule his Israel trip and call off a visit earlier in the day to the Palestinian government in the West Bank, the statement said.

“I am sorry that because of a medical emergency, I am unable to come to the Knesset,” the statement quoted Mayara as saying. It gave no details on the nature of his illness but said he would return to Morocco.

“The connection between the kingdom of Morocco and the state of Israel is a shared interest of the two countries, and together we will deepen it,” he added.

Israel's Knesset speaker Amir Ohana, who visited Morocco earlier this year, said Mayara's visit was supposed to be a highlight of the new relations. He said Israel wished Mayara “a speedy and full recovery.”



Syria Unable to Import Wheat or Fuel Due to US Sanctions, Trade Minister Says

Syrian Trade Minister Maher Khalil al-Hasan speaks during an interview with Reuters in Damascus, Syria, January 6 2025. (Reuters)
Syrian Trade Minister Maher Khalil al-Hasan speaks during an interview with Reuters in Damascus, Syria, January 6 2025. (Reuters)
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Syria Unable to Import Wheat or Fuel Due to US Sanctions, Trade Minister Says

Syrian Trade Minister Maher Khalil al-Hasan speaks during an interview with Reuters in Damascus, Syria, January 6 2025. (Reuters)
Syrian Trade Minister Maher Khalil al-Hasan speaks during an interview with Reuters in Damascus, Syria, January 6 2025. (Reuters)

Syria is unable to make deals to import fuel, wheat or other key goods due to strict US sanctions and despite many countries wanting to do so, Syria's new trade minister said.

In an interview with Reuters at his office in Damascus, Maher Khalil al-Hasan said Syria's new ruling administration had managed to scrape together enough wheat and fuel for a few months but the country faces a "catastrophe" if sanctions are not frozen or lifted soon.

Hasan is a member of the new caretaker government set up by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group after it launched a lightning offensive that toppled autocratic President Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8 after 13 years of civil war.

The sanctions were imposed during Assad's rule, targeting his government and also state institutions such as the central bank.

Russia and Iran, both major backers of the Assad government, previously provided most of Syria's wheat and oil products but both stopped doing so after the opposition factions triumphed and Assad fled to Moscow.

The US is set to announce an easing of restrictions on providing humanitarian aid and other basic services such as electricity to Syria while maintaining its strict sanctions regime, people briefed on the matter told Reuters on Monday.

The exact impact of the expected measures remains to be seen.

The decision by the outgoing Biden administration aims to send a signal of goodwill to Syria's people and its new rulers, and pave the way for improving basic services and living conditions in the war-ravaged country.

Washington wants to see Damascus embark on an inclusive political transition and to cooperate on counterterrorism and other matters.

Hasan told Reuters he was aware of reports that some sanctions may soon be eased or frozen.