PAX SHARON: As Arab leaders scramble to put together viable initiatives for peace ahead of their summit later this month, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was pursuing a different policy this week..--read on--

Opinion

WAR COVERAGE

INTIFADA IN FOCUS

The rock of Balata
The men may be Balata's resistance. But it is the women who hold the camp together. Graham Usher reports from a camp besieged, invaded but as yet unbowed

War on Gaza
Israel yesterday shelled Palestinian police and civilian targets in Gaza by land, air and sea, killing seven people, including three civilians

Egypt

Rage at Ebeid
A preliminary debate on Saturday into the causes of the Upper Egypt train disaster was well-orchestrated to cushion Prime Minister Atef Ebeid from criticism. He was not so lucky during a fact-finding meeting on Monday. Gamal Essam El-Din reports

Ministers on trial
Last month, former finance Minister Mohieddin El-Gharib was sentenced to eight years in prison with hard labour. The case is being seen as a turning-point in the continuing battle against official corruption, reports Gamal Essam El-Din

The politics of rights
She came to speak about "ethical globalisation" and the integrity of the international human rights law system, but encountered seething concern over the international community's double standard. Amira Howeidy reports on the UN high commissioner for human rights visit to Egypt and interviews her on the region's anxieties

Indicting Sharon, again
Prosecutors are investigating a complaint which charges Ariel Sharon of killing Egyptian POWs in the 1956 and 1967 wars. Is there more to this than political posturing, asks Amira Howeidy

Region

Called to account
As the inquiry into the murder of 13 Israeli Arabs proceeds, additional Israeli officials are being summoned to testify. Jonathan Cook in Nazareth reports

In two minds
UN chief Annan and Iraq's foreign minister will meet today amid mixed signals from Baghdad as to its readiness for a conditional return of weapons' inspectors, writes Michael Jansen

Seeking signs of consensus
Can the forthcoming Arab summit produce a strong consensus on the two topmost issues on the regional agenda: Palestine and Iraq? The signs, as Dina Ezzat reports, do not seem promising, though Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa may find some solace in the fact that his resolve to overhaul the regional organisation is already producing results

The way home
For many, the Palestinians' right of return may be no more than a pie in the sky. Salman Abu Sitta begs to differ, as Sherine Bahaa reports

Focus

International

Israeli spy-ring uncovered in US
Revelations of a secret US government report lead investigators to question whether Israeli intelligence had prior knowledge of the 11 September events. Iason Athanasiadis reports

The allies and the axis
Only Israel stood firmly behind the US on the controversial question of the "axis of evil," its other allies begged to differ, writes Mohamad Hakki from Washington

Rome flexes its muscles
Italy is cracking down hard on suspected terrorists and militant Islamists, reports Samia Nkrumah from Rome

Manufacturing another great Satan
Available evidence does not seem to warrant charges of genocide levelled against former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, writes Faiza Rady

Economy

Price fiesta
The recent flux in economic policies has sent prices sharply up. Sherine Nasr looks at why prices have started to rise and what this has done to local consumers

Health care trip-up
Well into its second year of being debated at the people's assembly the draft intellectual property rights law is still a hot potato. Niveen Wahish reports

IT

Bonaparte's battalions
Internet access is now free, but someone still has to make money. Jasper Thornton talks to the Network Providers about their new business challenges

E-commerce e-volution
After the retreat of the hyped-up portal frenzy that hit the country a year ago, the success of e-applications appeared to be far-fetched. However, as Yasmine El-Rashidi discovers,things are just starting to roll

Features

On the occasion of International Woman's Day, celebrated on 8 March, Al-Ahram Weekly delves into personal status issues in Egypt and Turkey as well as new initiatives to enhance awareness regarding FGM

What price freedom?

Diary of a married woman

Two heads are better then one

Proud to be different

1952 Special

Before the fall
As deputy head of the Royal Cabinet between 1944 and 1952 Hassan Youssef was one of King Farouk's closest aides. In this capacity he was party to many behind the scenes episodes. Below is his account of the dramatic last days of a monarch who dismissed three cabinets in as many months

Cleaning up the house
In the countdown to the 1952 Revolution Egyptian political leaders were trying hard to get the house in order, ultimately to no avail. Their attempts were recorded on the pages of Al-Ahram. Amina Elbendary reads the issues of February and March 1952

Living

Travel

A good likeness
Radio, television, the print press and new communication technologies: are the mass media forgetting half the population? On International Women's Day, Reem Leila inquires

Touring the sands of time
Sohag governorate is rich in archaeological sites, but seldom visited. Nevine El-Aref toured the area with experts concerned with the area's future development, and found herself witnessing an interesting argument