Morocco King Congratulates Macron, Hails Performance of Moroccan Football Team

 
King Mohammed VI (MAP)
King Mohammed VI (MAP)
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Morocco King Congratulates Macron, Hails Performance of Moroccan Football Team

 
King Mohammed VI (MAP)
King Mohammed VI (MAP)

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI held a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron following Wednesday’s 2022 World Cup semi-finals match between France and Morocco.

Mohammed congratulated Macron for France's triumph which has put the team into the World Cup final.

The call came on the eve of the visit of French Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Catherine Colonna to Rabat.

Colonna arrived in France on Thursday to meet Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita and discuss pending issues between both states and prepare for the visit of Macron to Rabat at the end of January.

Following the game, King Mohammed VI held a phone call with Morocco coach Walid Regragui.

The monarch thanked the Moroccan football players for their brilliant achievements and wished them luck for the upcoming match.

The King praised the performance of Regragui for having been able, in only a few months at the head of the national team, to forge a group of players so compact and so combative, to the point of marking this competition and honoring the Moroccan people and the international public by his high values of sportsmanship and his exemplary talent.

The King also spoke with the captain of the national team Romain Saiss to whom the Sovereign wished a speedy recovery from his injury, and congratulated him for his leadership while asking him to convey warm congratulations to the whole team.



UN Human Rights Office Concerned About Israeli Strikes on Civilians in Lebanon 

Smoke rises above south Lebanon following an Israeli strike amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel, May 5, 2024. (Reuters) 
Smoke rises above south Lebanon following an Israeli strike amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel, May 5, 2024. (Reuters) 
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UN Human Rights Office Concerned About Israeli Strikes on Civilians in Lebanon 

Smoke rises above south Lebanon following an Israeli strike amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel, May 5, 2024. (Reuters) 
Smoke rises above south Lebanon following an Israeli strike amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel, May 5, 2024. (Reuters) 

The United Nations human rights office is concerned about the protection of civilians in Lebanon as Israeli military operations have continued to kill civilians since the ceasefire.

"Israeli military operations in Lebanon continue to kill and injure civilians, and destroy civilian infrastructure, raising concerns regarding the protection of civilians," the spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights, Thameen Al-Kheetan, told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday.

At least 71 civilians - including 14 women and nine children - have been killed by Israeli forces in Lebanon, since the ceasefire came into effect on 27 November last year, and 92,000 are still displaced, according to OHCHR.

"We are calling for investigations into all allegations of violations...Each and every military action where civilians are killed must be investigated," Al-Kheetan said.

"The ceasefire must hold and any escalation is a risk for stability in general in Lebanon, Israel and the whole region," he added.