Punishment by detail
Terrorism, and its obsessive pursuit, have become an entirely circular, self-fulfiling murder and slow death of enemies who have no choice or say in the matter, writes Edward Said

Bush's war plans on hold?
Is the Bush administration beginning to seriously reconsider the idea of an attack on Iraq, asks Mohamed Sid-Ahmed

African cloaks, foreign daggers
Cairo's silence over Sudan's secretive peace deal speaks louder than words, writes Hassan Abu Taleb

Impossible to fight
The United States is failing in its war on terrorism, having never clearly defined what the war was against, writes Diaa Rashwan

In the name of the law
A case currently before the French courts accusing Al-Ahram's editor-in-chief of "inciting racial hatred against Jews" raises worrying questions about freedom of speech in France and the defence of Arab rights, argues Ali El-Ghatit

Editorial:
So-called statesmanship

Reflections
Comparative advantages?
By Hani Shukrallah

Close up
An American Bin Laden
By Salama A Salama

Soapbox
Waiting for signs?
By Essam Rifaat

Literature and criticism
By Naguib Mahfouz

This week: Atef Salem