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Moroccan King, Gabonese President Discuss Bilateral Ties

Morocco's King Mohammed VI and Gabon's President during the handing over of a donation of fertilizers from Morocco to farmers. (MAP)
Morocco's King Mohammed VI and Gabon's President during the handing over of a donation of fertilizers from Morocco to farmers. (MAP)
    Rabat - Nouakchott - Asharq Al-Awsat and Al-Sheikh Mohammed
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Moroccan King, Gabonese President Discuss Bilateral Ties

Morocco's King Mohammed VI and Gabon's President during the handing over of a donation of fertilizers from Morocco to farmers. (MAP)
Morocco's King Mohammed VI and Gabon's President during the handing over of a donation of fertilizers from Morocco to farmers. (MAP)

Morocco's King Mohammed VI has started an African tour that includes Gabon.

The King is expected to visit Senegal on Monday where he would meet President Macky Sall, according to Asharq Al-Awsat sources.

King Mohammed VI held talks on Wednesday with Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba at the Presidential Palace in Libreville.

The Maghreb Arabe Press reported that the meeting was an opportunity to highlight the importance of the “deep, rich, and solidly rooted relations between Morocco and Gabon,” as well as the “strong bonds of brotherhood and solidarity between the two nations.”

Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Yolande Nyonda, Minister Delegate at the Gabonese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Jean-Yves Teale, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic of Gabon, later joined the meeting.

King Mohammed and Ondimba reviewed bilateral partnerships in all fields.

the King also supervised the handing over of a donation of 2,000 tons of fertilizers, in the presence of Ondimba.

This operation will be followed by a structural action aimed at ensuring that farmers in Gabon have access to quality fertilizers that are affordable and specifically adapted to the needs of soils and crops in the region, according to MAP.

Nyonda said that the Moroccan fertilizers could “alleviate the burdens on Gabonese farmers” as she expressed gratitude for the initiative.

The minister added that the Gabonese government is focused on a self-sufficiency program and the reduction of food imports. It relies heavily on Morocco’s support which is among the biggest fertilizer producers in Africa.

Gabon is an African country on the equator and is rich in its arable lands but faces some challenges in developing the farming sector.

The President of Gabon visited Morocco in 2010 upon the death of his father.

In 2018, Bongo received medical treatment in Morocco at the instruction of the Moroccan King. In 2021, he returned to Morocco on a “friendship and work” visit.

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Violence Spikes in Syria's Opposition-Held Northwest, Killing Civilians and Striking Infrastructure

File photo: Smoke billows following reported bombardment by government forces in the Syrian northwestern town of Barah, in the Jabal al-Zawiya region. (AFP)
File photo: Smoke billows following reported bombardment by government forces in the Syrian northwestern town of Barah, in the Jabal al-Zawiya region. (AFP)
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Violence Spikes in Syria's Opposition-Held Northwest, Killing Civilians and Striking Infrastructure

File photo: Smoke billows following reported bombardment by government forces in the Syrian northwestern town of Barah, in the Jabal al-Zawiya region. (AFP)
File photo: Smoke billows following reported bombardment by government forces in the Syrian northwestern town of Barah, in the Jabal al-Zawiya region. (AFP)

A UN official said Thursday that he is “alarmed” by escalating violence in Syria’s opposition-held northwest in recent days, including airstrikes that hit near a food distribution site for displaced families and others that struck a power station and disabled water stations.
The UN deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, David Carden, said in a statement that 12 civilians, including children, had been killed since Monday and the increased violence has “halted critical humanitarian activities, including services provided by 10 health facilities.”
Syria’s uprising-turned-civil war, which began in 2011, has for years been a largely frozen conflict, the country effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus government of President Bashar Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.
The opposition-held northwest has remained a flashpoint. In recent weeks, rescue workers and a war monitor said that Russian forces allied with Assad have stepped up bombardment of the area.
On Wednesday alone, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said Russian warplanes launched 28 airstrikes in the countryside around Idlib and Latakia , targeting both civilian and military areas.
Some of the Russian strikes targeted sites of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which controls much of northwest Syria. Formerly known as the Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, the group later changed its name several times and distanced itself from al-Qaeda.
Both sides have engaged in drone attacks and shelling, the observatory said.
Other strikes have hit civilians. A strike on a furniture manufacturing workshop on the outskirts of the city of Idlib Wednesday killed 10 people and injured 32, many of them workers, the local civil defense, also known as the White Helmets, said in a statement.
The group said rescue workers spent seven hours in a grueling rescue operation, pulling survivors from the rubble. Eight teams worked to treat the injured and recover victims, it said in a statement on Thursday.
The escalation comes at a time when a stream of people are arriving in northwest Syria after fleeing the escalating Israeli bombardment in neighboring Lebanon. Carden said Monday that approximately 3,000 newly displaced Syrians had arrived in northwest Syria from Lebanon.