An old card Yasser Arafat surprised the international community by reviving the old call for a Palestinian-Jordanian confederation. Sherine Bahaa spoke to analysts about the possible reasons behind the proposal Arafat's ladder With the dust barely settled on his father's grave, last week King Abdullah was confronted with the one issue he almost certainly would have preferred to have stayed buried, at least during the opening months of his reign. Graham Usher writes No takers in Amman The Jordanian government and opposition parties alike reacted angrily this week to the proposal by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat for a confederation with Jordan, Khaled Dawoud reports from Amman.

Israel at war over its 'Jewish character' Tension between Israel's secular and religious camps rose this week as tens of thousands of ultra-orthodox Jews took to the streets. Khaled Amayreh reports from Jerusalem

ABDULLAH OCALAN, leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), has been snatched in an undercover operation and is now in Turkey where he will face trial for terrorism. --read on--

The bonds of grief Despite the smooth succession of late King Hussein's eldest son, Abdullah, Jordanians fear their future may hold nothing but uncertainty and trouble. Khaled Dawoud reports from Amman	From Kandahar into thin air While reports surfaced that suspected master terrorist Osama bin Laden may have left his mountain refuge in Afghanistan for Somalia, Iran, Iraq or Chechnya, the ruling Taliban deny any knowledge of his whereabouts, writes Jailan Halawi
Some are freer than others Freedom of the press in the Arab world was one of the main issues discussed at the annual meeting of the Federation of Arab Journalists. Rasha Saad attended