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Morocco, Mauritania to Hold High Joint Committee Meeting

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his Mauritanian counterpart Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed meet in Rabat on Monday. (Moroccan Foreign Ministry)
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his Mauritanian counterpart Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed meet in Rabat on Monday. (Moroccan Foreign Ministry)
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Morocco, Mauritania to Hold High Joint Committee Meeting

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his Mauritanian counterpart Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed meet in Rabat on Monday. (Moroccan Foreign Ministry)
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his Mauritanian counterpart Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed meet in Rabat on Monday. (Moroccan Foreign Ministry)

Morocco and Mauritania plan to hold a meeting of the High Joint Committee to strengthen cooperation and develop economic ties.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his Mauritanian counterpart Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed made the announcement after meeting in Rabat on Monday.

“Talks focused on holding, as soon as possible, a meeting of the High Joint Committee which will be chaired by the prime ministers of the two countries,” Ould Sheikh Ahmed said.

For his part, Bourita underlined the political desire of the leaders of the two countries to give new impetus to bilateral relations, denying the presence of any crisis between them.

“We are in contact once or twice every week,” he added.

He said the joint committee will focus on strengthening cooperation and the mobilization of economic stakeholders.

In Rabat, the Mauritanian FM also delivered a message from President Mohammed Ould Cheikh El-Ghazouani to King Mohammed VI.

The message was received by Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Dine El Otmani, who said the talks focused on bilateral relations and the need to develop them in the economic, scientific, educational and investment fields.

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Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
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Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)

Scores of US-backed Kurdish fighters left two neighborhoods in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo Friday as part of a deal with the central government in Damascus, which is expanding its authority in the country.

The fighters left the predominantly Kurdish northern neighborhoods of Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh, which had been under the control of Kurdish fighters in Aleppo over the past decade.

The deal is a boost to an agreement reached last month between Syria’s interim government and the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast. The deal could eventually lead to the merger of the main US-backed force in Syria into the Syrian army.

The withdrawal of fighters from the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) came a day after dozens of prisoners from both sides were freed in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that government forces were deployed along the road that SDF fighters will use to move between Aleppo and areas east of the Euphrates River, where the Kurdish-led force controls nearly a quarter of Syria.

Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh had been under SDF control since 2015 and remained so even when forces of ousted President Bashar al-Assad captured Aleppo in late 2016. The two neighborhoods remained under SDF control when forces loyal to current interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa captured the city in November, and days later captured the capital, Damascus, removing Assad from power.

After being marginalized for decades under the rule of the Assad family rule, the deal signed last month promises Syria’s Kurds “constitutional rights,” including using and teaching their language, which were banned for decades.

Hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who were displaced during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, will return to their homes. Thousands of Kurds living in Syria who have been deprived of nationality for decades under Assad will be given the right of citizenship, according to the agreement.

Kurds made up 10% of the country’s prewar population of 23 million. Kurdish leaders say they don’t want full autonomy with their own government and parliament. They want decentralization and room to run their day-to day-affairs.