State of emergency
It couldn't have come at a worse time -- but why did it have to come at all?

Contest heats up over the Palestine linkage
US President Bush has declared support for the creation of a Palestinian state. But opposition has dogged his every step. Mohamed Hakki, in Washington, writes

All Western hands on deck
The provision of additional military units by Western countries to assist the US-led war in Afghanistan is indicative of foreign policy concerns as well as the interoperability of NATO members, writes Robert Lowry

Nervous about the Northern Alliance

Islamabad may soon sever all ties with the Taliban. But it is far from keen on the mooted alternative. Absar Alam reports from Islamabad

Calling Bin Laden's bluff
With Kabul in Northern Alliance hands, the Taliban looks more vulnerable than ever. But what do they have in store? Galal Nassar assesses the military situation

The road untravelled
As the murmur of naysayers and sceptics of the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan rises to an audible din, international powers are scrambling to settle on a feasible post-Taliban scheme. Nyier Abdou looks at the limited scenarios on offer

A tangled web
With the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif, the war is now literally on the back doorstep of the Islamic Republics of Central Asia -- a development that is bound redraw the political map of the area, writes Fatemah Farag

Grip and grin
A whirlwind tour ending in New York was a public relations coup for Musharraf. But will photo-ops translate into real aid? Iffat Malek writes from Islamabad

In on the kill
France is stepping up its intelligence support for the US-led campaign in Afghanistan while wanting to keep out of the fighting, writes David Tresilian from Paris

A two-pronged crisis
Turkey's government is facing strong popular opposition to its decision to send troops to Afghanistan to take part in the US-led war against Taliban, Gareth Jenkins report from Istanbul

Islamism's new face
The war on terror will change political Islam; political Islam in turn might well change the region. Diaa Rashwan writes

Qa'eda invokes Palestine
While Ayman El-Zawahri devotes Al-Qa'eda's latest statement to the Palestinian cause and warns America of more strikes to come, Bin Laden claims he possesses a nuclear capability

Cutting the cord
Once a lifeline for journalists to Islamist militant groups the world over, Egyptian exile Yasser El-Serri now faces new terrorism charges

Handed over?
Security sources remained tight-lipped concerning a claim that a leading Islamist militant was handed over to Egypt by Syria