From Aqaba to Gaza
At the Aqaba Summit there was a glimmer of hope that violence might end. It hasn't, writes Graham Usher from Jerusalem

Moral guises
Washington's promises of democracy in post-Saddam Iraq do not, as yet, permit for Iraqis to rule themselves, writes Salah Hemeid

First things first
As the Palestinians and Israelis grapple with their roadmap commitments, Egypt is trying to help keep the ball rolling. Nevine Khalil and Soha Abdelaty report

Whose security?
In this first of a four-part series on the fundamental issues addressed by the roadmap, Jonathan Cook addresses the question of security

Not so fast!
Iraqi opposition figures are unimpressed by US plans to appoint a political council to assist in running the occupied country. Omayma Abdel-Latif reports

Systematic plunder?
How spontaneous was the massive looting and destruction that took place throughout Iraq following the fall of Baghdad? Galal Nassar finds method in the midst of the madness

Rounding up the Arabs
The revised form of the Patriot Act relegates civil liberties to the dustbin of history, writes Negar Azimi

The great white lie
Unable to produce evidence of Iraqi "weapons of mass destruction" the Bush administration is scrambling to cover up its tracks, reports Anayat Durrani from Washington

The 'black hole' of Chechnya
The Chechen civil war is corrupting the Russian state, writes Shohdy Naguib from Moscow

Globalisation and its discontents
Two decades of neoliberal policies have pauperised the South, writes M Shahid Alam

Egypt

Preempting the Brotherhood
Jailan Halawi writes on the latest arrests in the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood, which their leaders describe as the government's "hot pursuit" policy against the group

Ancient beauty sabotaged
A curious curatorial decision at the Egyptian National Museum in Berlin has resulted in an outpouring of Egyptian anger. Nevine El-Aref reports

Economy

Privatisation, liberalisation and all that -- revisited
Ten years on, Adel Beshai finds that the issues remain unchanged

Put on your jeans and hate the US

Press review