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The fuse in this bomb (the 0 shape is the number five in Arabic) will get shorter in 2005 by Alaa Rustom in the Syrian paper Tishreen; In the Egyptian daily Al-Akhbar, Mustafa Hussein's characters wait in line to vote in this month's elections in Iraq. "Who do you think will win?" "The undertaker of course."

"Where is the Arab Bank for Investment which was supposed to play a critical role in strengthening the private sector in Arab countries?" -- Ragab El-Banna, October

"It appears that El-Bardaei decided to deal with the media in much the same way as he deals with his defaulting clients. He accused us of 'harbouring ill intentions' and 'distorting the facts'." -- Lamees El-Hadidi, Al-Alam Al-Youm Al-Isboui

"Colin Powell only wants rapprochement between Abbas and the Israeli government." -- Al-Quds Al-Arabi

"[Iraqi] meetings were only a gathering for countries to escape being blamed for not attending and to show their presence in front of the cameras." -- Al-Raya

"Every one of the five million people uprooted from their homes in Southeast Asia as a result of the natural disaster would willingly trade places with the most dejected of settlers." -- Nahum Barnea, -- Yediot Aharonot

"Even the settler who, as the police said, 'only' committed murder, was released. Would an Arab who 'only' killed an Israeli have been released?" -- Yariv Oppenheimer, Maariv Magazine