Al-Ahram Weekly On-line
30 July - 5 August 1998
Issue No.388
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 Current issue | Previous issue | Site map
Editorial    
Retreat under pressure
Libyan steadfastness, criticism in the Third World and growing cracks in the sanctions regime have forced a dramatic policy shift: the US and Britain are considering a compromise that would have the two Libyan suspects in the 1988 Lockerbie plane explosion tried in the Netherlands by Scottish judges and in accordance with Scottish law. --read on--

Close up     
Opposing benefits
Salama A. Salama
Last week, two parties that dominate public life in Egypt held congresses: the National Democratic Party, which has dominated Egypt's political landscape for the past 25 years, and the Tagammu' Party, which has steadfastly maintained its position on the left of the political map. The Tagammu' is the opposition party characterised by the strongest organisation, greatest solidarity, and most consistency in its principles. --read on--

Back to the negotiating table?
Mohamed Sid-Ahmed questions whether peace negotiations can be resumed as long as Netanyahu is in power, or whether every attempt to jump-start them is doomed to fail

Naguib Mahfouz
Telling the truth
Great thinkers or activists who have left their mark on society are regarded as role models. For this reason, their fears and hopes, failures and successes, are an invaluable source of hope. We are uplifted by the sense that they, too, have weaknesses and moments of despair. We can, therefore, aspire to achievements like theirs. Confessional literature, indeed, could reinforce one's will to change for the better and to convert to a more moral, courageous life. Reading Rousseau and St Augustine, for instance, is always a great inspiration to me. --read on--
Reflections
More equal than others
By Hani Shukrallah
Ultimately, states everywhere belong to the privileged -- invariably the rich and powerful -- in a society. Not for want of trying, humanity has yet to establish a state that is genuinely accessible to, and expressive of, the underprivileged, the poor and the dispossessed sections of the society, who remain, in all countries, in the majority. --read on--
This week:
King Hussein  
A Jewish question
Republicans may be eager to capture the Jewish vote in the run-up to the next presidential election. But, says James Zogby, tradition remains a force to be reckoned with 		Soapbox
A people's peace
By Salah Issa
The grassroots movement that sprang up in the aftermath of the 1979 Camp David Accord in support of a continued boycott of Israel, has wide appeal. --read on--
The tools of seduction Post-modernism is the essence of the new world order, writes Abdel-Wahab Elmessiri: the final solution for a one-dimensional age