Al-Ahram Weekly

The gulf between them
Lionel Jospin may have been aiming for a more "even-handed" presentation of French Middle East policy with his remarks about Hizbullah. What he got was stones from Palestinian students. Graham Usher reports from Jerusalem

French faux pas
Demonstrations and angry rejoinders dominated the Lebanese political arena last week responding to the provocative remarks made by France's Jospin. Ranwa Yehia follows the reaction in Beirut

Iran looks outwards
Where their leaders bicker, Iran's young electorate stray from their party lines and concur on an internationalist foreign policy. Azadeh Moaveni probes the unlikely consensus from Tehran

Dreaming of independence
After nine years of virtual self-rule in northern Iraq, are the Kurds any closer to realising their vision of an independent state? Salah Hemeid analyses this question in light of recent developments