Bottom Lines

"Pursuing a free market economy is no excuse for traders to charge more for commodities in order to rip off consumers... The exaggerated price hikes cannot be all attributed to the dollar exchange rate." -- Atef Ebeid, prime minister, Rose El-Youssef

"At the time the Suez crisis brought serious questions about the role and charter of the UN... it was clearly proven then that the UN had a crucial role in containing this crisis... the same applies to Iraq... The increasing importance of the UN for Iraq will be made clear." -- Ahmed Abul-Gheit, Egypt's permanent representative to the UN, Akher Sa'a

"I am very concerned about the reaction of extremists to my movie... I am particularly concerned about the part where I refer to the Qur'an saying, 'I know my Qur'an'," -- Omar Sharif, Akhbar Al-Yom

"The most important item on display in Dubai's market right now, and against the will of its people, is Iraq, all of Iraq..." -- Talal Salman, editor, As-Safir

"What I have difficulty understanding is the minister of defence's decision to hand himself over in return for a personal, cheap and humiliating price: having his name struck off the most wanted list." -- Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor, Al-Quds Al-Arabi

"'Al-Sahhaf's War' on Abu Dhabi TV should have been called 'Al-Sahhaf's lies'." -- Sadek Badr, columnist, Al-Watan