“Let the Mayor be sick,” was the suggestion of some Brazilian officials in discussing the problem of whether Iraqi Vice President Taha Marouf should come to Rio de Janeiro on his forthcoming visit to Brazil because this city now has a Jewish Mayor. There was concern that Dr. Israel Klaban, who is also president of Klaban Industries which is on the Arab boycott list, would refuse to receive Marouf or that Marouf would refuse to be received by the Jewish Mayor.
But Klaban said he would not be “sick.” Observers noted that many Arab officials are coming to Brazil lately and Klaban would have to be constantly “sick” if he or the Arabs wanted to avoid each other officially. Finally, Foreign Office officials and members of the Iraqi Embassy agreed that Marouf would avoid Rio de Janeiro when he arrives in Brazil in early June to seek Brazilian participation in two projects costing $24 billion, a harbor on the Yanbu River and a military base.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
