Top Syrian comedian Najah Hafeez dies

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BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's state news agency says Najah Hafeez, one of the country's top comedians, has died following a battle with illness. She was 84.

The state news agency, SANA, said Hafeez passed away at the Ibn al-Nafees hospital in Damascus Saturday afternoon. The agency says Hafeez will be buried on Sunday without giving further details about her illness.

Hafeez was also known by her acting name, Fatoum Hees Bees, and played major roles since the 1970s alongside Syria's Duraid Lahham, one of the Arab world's most prominent comedians.

She shot to fame after her role in "Hotel Sah el-Nom," a 1974 TV series, in which Lahham falls in love with her but fails to marry her.

Hafeez was married but had no children.