Trump aide Kushner heads to Israel, Morocco after deal on ties

WASHINGTON: Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser, will visit Israel and Morocco next week to discuss the normalisation of ties between the two countries, a US official told AFP on Tuesday (Dec 15).

The American delegation, headed by Kushner, will take the first direct commercial flight from Tel Aviv to Rabat, the source said.

Kushner is expected Monday in Israel.

Morocco last week announced a "resumption of relations" with Israel, in an announcement making it the fourth Arab country this year to unveil plans to normalise ties with Tel Aviv through a US-brokered deal, following the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.

The announcement came after Trump tweeted that Rabat and the Jewish state had agreed to "full diplomatic relations".

That followed Trump's recognition of Morocco's contested sovereignty in Western Sahara, infuriating the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, which controls about one-fifth of the vast, arid region.

Western Sahara is a disputed and divided former Spanish colony, mostly under Morocco's control, where tensions with the pro-independence Polisario have simmered since the 1970s.

The movement has dismissed Trump's announcement and vowed to fight on until Moroccan forces withdraw from the entire region.