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Othmani Rejects 'Betrayal' Accusations Following Deal with Israel

Morocco's Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani poses a picture during an interview with Reuters in Rabat, Morocco November 17, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed ElJechtimi
Morocco's Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani poses a picture during an interview with Reuters in Rabat, Morocco November 17, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed ElJechtimi
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Othmani Rejects 'Betrayal' Accusations Following Deal with Israel

Morocco's Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani poses a picture during an interview with Reuters in Rabat, Morocco November 17, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed ElJechtimi
Morocco's Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani poses a picture during an interview with Reuters in Rabat, Morocco November 17, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed ElJechtimi

Morocco’s Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani has denounced statements accusing him of “betraying” the Palestinian cause, after Morocco signed the joint declaration with the US and Israel on Dec. 22.

Speaking during a virtual meeting with the Justice and Development Party, Othmani said that he accepts the criticism, however, rejects any questioning of the party's position and that of Morocco, regarding the Palestinian cause.

He asserted that there are no compromises when it comes to the Palestinian cause, as well as the Sahara issue.

While assuming his responsibility in formalizing normalization with Israel, Othmani brushed off all allegations accusing the party and Morocco of “betraying” the Palestinians.

“I am surprised by those who attack the party, accusing it of changing its position. We reject the attacks and any questioning of the party's position and Morocco's position regarding the struggle of the Palestinian people,” he stressed.

He also stressed that he still rejects the violations committed by the occupation against Palestinians and the settlements activities, stressing support to the demands of the Palestinians’ right to return to their country.

Commenting on the deal to resume ties with Israel, Othmani said that the foreign policy of Morocco is determined by the King.

“As head of the government, I have responsibilities. What I did (signing the Declaration of December 22) was as head of the Moroccan government. As Abdelilah Benkirane said, the second personality of the State cannot contradict the first personality of the State», Othmani said.

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100 Million Captagon Pills Destroyed in Damascus

Members of the security forces with Syria's new government inspect a warehouse that used to hide pills of Captagon, a brand name of the psychostimulant drug Fenethylline, inside children's toys, hookahs, house doors and plastic insulation, during a raid in Latakia on January 19, 2025. (Photo by AAREF WATAD / AFP)
Members of the security forces with Syria's new government inspect a warehouse that used to hide pills of Captagon, a brand name of the psychostimulant drug Fenethylline, inside children's toys, hookahs, house doors and plastic insulation, during a raid in Latakia on January 19, 2025. (Photo by AAREF WATAD / AFP)
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100 Million Captagon Pills Destroyed in Damascus

Members of the security forces with Syria's new government inspect a warehouse that used to hide pills of Captagon, a brand name of the psychostimulant drug Fenethylline, inside children's toys, hookahs, house doors and plastic insulation, during a raid in Latakia on January 19, 2025. (Photo by AAREF WATAD / AFP)
Members of the security forces with Syria's new government inspect a warehouse that used to hide pills of Captagon, a brand name of the psychostimulant drug Fenethylline, inside children's toys, hookahs, house doors and plastic insulation, during a raid in Latakia on January 19, 2025. (Photo by AAREF WATAD / AFP)

Syrian security forces destroyed seized drugs Sunday including around 100 million pills of the amphetamine-like stimulant captagon -- whose production and trafficking flourished under ousted president Bashar al-Assad, an official told AFP.

“We destroyed large quantities of narcotic pills,” said official Badr Youssef, including “about 100 million captagon pills and 10 to 15 tons of hashish” as well as raw materials used to produce captagon.

He spoke from the Damascus headquarters of the defunct Fourth Division where the drugs were seized. The Fourth Division was controlled by Assad's brother, Maher.

Earlier, the official SANA news agency said: “the anti-narcotics department of the (interior) ministry is destroying narcotic substances seized at the headquarters of the Fourth Division.”

An AFP photographer saw security personnel in a Fourth Division warehouse load dozens of bags filled with pills and other drugs into trucks, before taking them to a field to be burned.

Over the past decade, the regime of Assad, ousted last month by opposition factions, has been accused of being the principal purveyor of Captagon, which flooded markets across the Middle East.

Revenues from Captagon sales sustained the old regime for much of the 13-year conflict. A 2022 AFP investigation found that Syria under Assad had become a narco state, with the $10-billion captagon industry dwarfing all other exports.

On Saturday, SANA reported that authorities had seized “a huge warehouse belonging to the former regime” in the coastal city of Latakia.

It said the factory “specialized in packing captagon pills into children's toys and furniture.”

On Sunday, an AFP photographer visited the warehouse near the port and saw security personnel dismantling children's bicycles that contained the small white pills.

Captagon pills had also been hidden inside objects such as doors, shisha water pipes and car parts, he reported.

Abu Rayyan, a security official in Latakia, said that “about 50 to 60 million captagon pills” had been seized that “belonged to the Fourth Division.”

“This is the largest such warehouse in the area,” he said.

Abu Rayyan said the drugs had been packed for export from Latakia “to neighboring countries,” and that they would be destroyed.