Official: Iraqi Oil Minister Stable after Surgery in US

FILE PHOTO: Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani Al-Swad, attends a signing ceremony of the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP) in Baghdad, Iraq, July 10, 2023. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani Al-Swad, attends a signing ceremony of the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP) in Baghdad, Iraq, July 10, 2023. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani/File Photo
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Official: Iraqi Oil Minister Stable after Surgery in US

FILE PHOTO: Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani Al-Swad, attends a signing ceremony of the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP) in Baghdad, Iraq, July 10, 2023. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani Al-Swad, attends a signing ceremony of the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP) in Baghdad, Iraq, July 10, 2023. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani/File Photo

Iraqi oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani is in stable condition after receiving emergency heart surgery during an official visit to the United States, an oil ministry official who is part of the Iraqi delegation said on Saturday.

Abdel-Ghani arrived in the US earlier this week on a trip aimed at courting US companies to invest in Iraq’s energy sector.

The oil ministry official told Reuters he fell ill and was rushed to hospital during the trip and underwent heart catheterization surgery.

"He’s out from the operating theater and is in a stable condition," the official said.

Abdel-Ghani and other oil ministry officials could not immediately be reached for comment.



Israeli Airstrike on South Lebanon’s Nabatieh Injures 14, Health Ministry Says

People stand amid the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israel's ground and air offensive after returning to the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab as on January 28, 2025. (AFP)
People stand amid the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israel's ground and air offensive after returning to the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab as on January 28, 2025. (AFP)
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Israeli Airstrike on South Lebanon’s Nabatieh Injures 14, Health Ministry Says

People stand amid the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israel's ground and air offensive after returning to the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab as on January 28, 2025. (AFP)
People stand amid the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israel's ground and air offensive after returning to the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab as on January 28, 2025. (AFP)

An Israeli airstrike on Nabatieh, a major town in southern Lebanon, injured 14 people on Tuesday, the Lebanese health ministry said.

Security sources reported a second strike in a nearby area. They said the first targeted a vehicle loaded with weapons, while the target of the second was still unclear.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israeli forces killed at least 24 people and wounded at least 141 in southern Lebanon on Sunday and Monday, the Lebanese health ministry said, as thousands of people tried to return to their homes in the area in defiance of Israeli military orders.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group and Israel agreed on a ceasefire in late November, ending to a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war in 2023.

The US said on Sunday the agreement between Lebanon and Israel, which included an initial 60-day period for the withdrawal of Israeli troops, would remain in effect until Feb. 18, an extension to the Jan. 26 deadline previously agreed.

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Monday that the group would not accept any justifications to extend the period for Israeli troops' withdrawal from southern Lebanon.