Al-Ahram Weekly - Front page

		Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 31 Dec. 1998 - 6 Jan. 1999 Issue No.410
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Rocky road to Baghdad
Though many Arab countries seek a unified position that would ease Iraqi suffering, substantial hurdles stand in their way, not least Baghdad's fiery rhetoric

Gearing up for a final showdown?
The US was determined to bomb Iraq before the year was out. Not that President Saddam Hussein seemed to have noticed, as he continued his favourite game of gambling with his people's destiny, writes Al-Ahram Weekly's special correspondent on Iraqi affairs

Divided they fall
As Israel gears up for elections, the right is splintering like rotten wood, leaving outgoing Premier Binyamin Netanyahu more isolated than ever, Mohamed El-Masri writes from Gaza

The Washington process
America may have chosen active engagement in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, writes Graham Usher, but that did not make 1998 a year of progress

Refurbishing the Fatimid city
President Hosni Mubarak yesterday went on a surprise field visit to Fatimid Cairo where reconstruction is underway to restore the area to its former
glory --read on--

Acting regionally
In 1998 Cairo worked on expanding and institutionalising its political and economic potential. Nevine Khalil looks at the major issues tackled by Egyptian diplomacy

Diplomacy, development
and declining terrorism
Prominent politicians and intellectuals were divided on which of the year's events was the most significant. Shaden Shehab polled their views

Sharp decline in terrorism
A pre-emptive security strategy and stepped up international cooperation were behind a dramatic drop in acts of terrorism in 1998, the first such drop since 1992, security officials told Jailan Halawi

1998: the year of the "bum"
So much almost went up in smoke, yet somehow, most of us are still here. Eqbal Ahmad looks back on an explosive year

Tomorrow's grey areas
As the second week of Ramadan comes to an end, the debate continues. Olivier Roy, a political scientist with controversial ideas, speaks to Omayma Abdel-Latif

Smoking guns
There were some gains in Africa in 1998, but plenty of pain too, writes Gamal Nkrumah

Time to go global?
Egypt's economic reform programme has been hailed as a success story. A further boost is necessary, however, for the country to compete effectively on the world market

Emerging markets:
a year to remember
Looking back at 1998's financial "earthquake", Mohamed El-Erian predicts aftershocks and slow growth in 1999. There is cause for optimism, however

Edward Said:
Clinton's rampage

Gamil Mattar: America's war
against the Arabs

Iraq defiant
Trial scenario
Post-mortem

A right to return

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon continue to suffer twice: for their expulsion from their homeland, and from the inhuman conditions in which they live. In this anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Rosemary Sayigh argues, we must challenge Israel's absolute refusal to repatriate the Palestinian diaspora -- the condition on which it was admitted to the UN 50 years ago

A propitious wind,
and sails of patience

No river has so marked the land it flows through as the Nile. From the earliest of times, writes Fayza Hassan, it has exercised a special enchantment over explorers who tried to map its course and describe what they observed on its shores. Later, tourists spent the winter season gently plying its waters on their way to Upper Egypt.
The scores of studies, diaries and travel-logs they left behind recorded inimitable sunsets -- and incredible adventures