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Saudi Foreign Minister Stresses Deep Bond With Morocco

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Bin Abdullah Al Saud speaking at a joint press briefing with his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita at the sidelines of the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Bin Abdullah Al Saud speaking at a joint press briefing with his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita at the sidelines of the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Foreign Minister Stresses Deep Bond With Morocco

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Bin Abdullah Al Saud speaking at a joint press briefing with his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita at the sidelines of the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Bin Abdullah Al Saud speaking at a joint press briefing with his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita at the sidelines of the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Bin Abdullah Al Saud welcomed on Wednesday evening in Marrakesh the close and fraternal relations uniting Morocco and Saudi Arabia.

Speaking at a joint press briefing with his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita, at the sidelines of the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, the Saudi FM highlighted the depth of relations between the two brotherly countries.

Saudi Arabia and Morocco celebrate this year the 65th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan also acknowledged the support of Morocco to the candidacy of Saudi Arabia to host the Universal Exhibition (Expo 2030).

The Saudi FM said that the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS was an opportunity to address various issues of common interest.

He then highlighted the success of the first session of Moroccan-Saudi political consultations, held recently in Riyadh, and which will continue next June in Rabat.

Regarding the fight against terrorism, Prince Faisal bin Farhan stressed the central role played by the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in the field of counter-terrorism, as well as the importance of cooperation and coordination between different countries to end this threat.

For his part, Bourita said that Rabat and Riyadh maintain permanent coordination relations, noting that “the supreme interests of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are strategic interests for Morocco.”

He added that the talks were an opportunity to further strengthen bilateral relations, noting that the two kingdoms share the same views on several regional and international issues.

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Sudan War Destroys World's Only Research Center on Skin Disease Mycetoma

The Mycetoma Research Center in the southern Khartoum district of Soba, on August 5, 2013. ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP/File
The Mycetoma Research Center in the southern Khartoum district of Soba, on August 5, 2013. ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP/File
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Sudan War Destroys World's Only Research Center on Skin Disease Mycetoma

The Mycetoma Research Center in the southern Khartoum district of Soba, on August 5, 2013. ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP/File
The Mycetoma Research Center in the southern Khartoum district of Soba, on August 5, 2013. ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP/File

The world's only research center on mycetoma, a neglected tropical disease common among farmers, has been destroyed in Sudan's two-year war, its director and another expert say.

Mycetoma is caused by bacteria or fungus and usually enters the body through cuts. It is a progressively destructive infectious disease of the body tissue, affecting skin, muscle and even bone.

It is often characterized by swollen feet, but can also cause barnacle-like growths and club-like hands, AFP said.

"The center and all its infrastructure were destroyed during the war in Sudan," Ahmed Fahal, director of the Mycetoma Research Centre (MRC), told AFP.

"We lost the entire contents of our biological banks, where there was data from more than 40 years," said Fahal, whose center had treated thousands of patients from Sudan and other countries.

"It's difficult to bear."

Since April 15, 2023, Sudan's army has been at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces throughout the northeast African country.

The MRC is located in the Khartoum area, which the army last month reclaimed from the RSF during a war that has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 12 million.

Sudan's health care system has been left at the "breaking point", according to the World Health Organization.

Among the conflict's casualties is now the MRC, established in 1991 under the auspices of the University of Khartoum. It was a rare story of medical success in impoverished Sudan.

A video provided by the global Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) shows collapsed ceilings, shelves overturned, fridges open and documents scattered about.

AFP was not able to independently verify the MRC's current condition.

The center had grown to include 50 researchers and treat 12,000 patients each year, Fahal said.

Mycetoma is listed as a neglected tropical disease by the WHO.

The organisms that cause mycetoma also occur in Sudan's neighbors, including Chad and Ethiopia, as well as in other tropical and sub-tropical areas, among them Mexico and Thailand, WHO says.

For herders, farmers and other workers depending on manual labor to survive, crippling mycetoma infections can be a life sentence.

Drawing on the MRC's expertise, in 2019 the WHO and Sudan's government convened the First International Training Workshop on Mycetoma, in Khartoum.

"Today, Sudan, which was at the forefront of awareness of mycetomas, has gone 100 percent backwards," said Dr. Borna Nyaoke-Anoke, DNDi's head of mycetoma.