26 Dec. 2002 - 1 Jan. 2003 [618]
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Building up the pressure
Washington insists its military build-up in the Gulf is to maintain pressure on Iraq and that no decision has been made about military action, reports Khaled Dawoud from Washington
By Khaled Dawoud'A better life'
With daily struggle for survival overshadowing Christmas, Christian Palestinians have little to celebrate this year, writes Talal Jabari from Nablus and Bethlehem
By Talal Jabari
Encouraging excellence
Last Wednesday, Mrs Suzanne Mubarak innaugurated Cairo's 19th International Children's Book Fair at the Nasr City fair grounds...Obituary:
Death of an eye
Filmmaker, director and photographer Nagui Riyad passed away last week after a rich and multifaceted career in the arts.Knowing our 'friends'
Nader Fergany argues that the only route to reform in the Arab world is self-relianceStability and development
Fayza Abul-Naga, the state minister for foreign affairs and minister for international cooperation, briefed President Hosni Mubarak this week about her just-completed working tour of Japan and the US...Leading Ebeid by the hand
Gamal Essam El-Din reports on Prime Minister Atef Ebeid's attempts to make the policy statement he'll be presenting to parliament next week reflect the NDP's "new way of thinking"Rotation of power
A stormy conference resulted in the leftist Tagammu Party agreeing to change the current system by which the party chooses its ranking members. Mona El-Nahhas reportsPayback time
Although pay per minute phone competitions have seen their share of criticism, the games go on. Dena Rashed reportsA year of challenge and promise
Al-Ahram Weekly recaps the significant trends and events on the local scene in 2002Newsreel
On saturday, Cairo's Criminal Court delayed -- until 25 January -- the retrial of 50 men convicted last year by a state security court of habitual debauchery...Challenging silence
Will Jenin's voice be silenced again? Jonathan Cook, from Ban'a, reports on the Israeli banning of a documentary that gave the camp's inhabitants a face and a voiceWishy-washy Washington workshop
Sudanese government and opposition figures met in Washington to speed up the peace and national reconciliation processes, writes Gamal NkrumahPeace in Sudan?
Is Sudan about to see the light at the end of the tunnel? Perhaps, answers Dina EzzatRoads to perdition
On the eve of the new year Graham Usher in Jerusalem looks at the divided state of the Palestinian national movement. He argues it must unify its ranks and policy in 2003 if it is not to repeat the mistakes it made in 2002Secularists versus Islamists
The secular Turkish establishment last week stepped up its campaign against the new Islamist government of the Justice and Development Party, Gareth Jenkins reports from AnkaraElections impossible
The elections were cancelled as more Palestinians lose faith in a two-state solution, Khaled Amayreh reports from JerusalemIraq: another Afghanistan?
Baghdad spent most of 2002 trying not to become another Afghanistan. Dina Ezzat reports with an eye on 2003
Raising a voice
Anti-globalisation and anti-war activists from around the world closed ranks with their Arab peers in Cairo in pursuit of a 'different world'. Omayma Abdel-Latif reportsDemocracy first
The anti-war campaign is as much about democracy as about stopping the war. Harald Schumann, an outspoken German advocate of democracy spoke to Gamal Nkrumah'People should be outraged'
Rasha Saad talks to two guests of the Cairo conference, Ramsey Clark and Saad Qassem Hammoudy, about US manipulation of the UN and the consequences of another war on IraqThe sacrifices of war
Saad Qassem Hammoudy, a leading member of the Ba'ath Party and secretary-general of the Iraqi Conference of Arab Popular Forces, discusses allegations that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction and explains why he thinks the US and Britain are intent on warThe policy of punishment
ROGUE CHIEFS: They believed in the system -- and it failed them. On the fringes of last week's conference, Nyier Abdou catches up with former UN humanitarian co-ordinators for Iraq Hans von Sponeck and Denis Halliday to talk about warmongering, doublespeak and life after the UNScylla and Charybdis
Denis Halliday navigates dangerous waters between a cruel system and a brutal regime
Leg-up for the market
Obvious foreign interest and a new set of rules gave the capital market a much-needed push during 2002Slowly, but surely?
Despite new government approaches to boost privatisation, the programme still faces a slowdown for the foreseeable futureBetter than expected
A stronger than expected recovery has enabled Egypt to stay away from donor assistance tied to set policy prescriptionsYear of the runaways
The economy took yet another beating this year as the list of loan defaulters continued to growLegislating for recovery
Parliament's main concern over the last year has been to protect the Egyptian economy from the fallout of 11 September.Globalisation's lost consensus
Two major events took place in Cairo over the last week symbolising the despondency that many now feel over the effects of globalisation on the poor, writes Wael GamalStable yet vulnerable
Although the Egyptian pound has had a relatively stable year, it will remain vulnerable to external shocks unless there is an improvement in Egypt's wider economyCreating the right environment
Efforts are underway to facilitate the development of small and medium enterprises and their integration into the mainstream economy. Niveen Wahish reportsExports duck despite laws
Laws, decrees, and funds galore, but, how to explain the lack of response at the bottom line?World Bank forecasts slow growth
A recently issued World Bank report is pessimistic about the global economy with growth in the Middle East contingent on the avoidance of war. Mona El-Fiqi reviews the report
Arab and suspect
It has become commonplace in the US to arrest and detain Arabs, reports Anayat Durrani from Los AngelesHumpty dumpty
Can all the king's horses and all the king's men put Afghanistan back together again? Nyier Abdou takes the pulse of Afghanistan's recovery effortsKilling the poor
The WTO's latest verdict has made it possible for the Western pharmaceutical giants to continue to put profits before people, writes Faiza RadyA critical year
Gamal Nkrumah examines how Africa south of the Sahara fared in 2002The new America
America is in a class of its own, but it's no enviable position, writes Nyier Abdou
The missing links
The narrowly partial focus of the proposed London Middle East conference, Ibrahim Nafie argues, will undermine its successBeyond impotence
How has Israel's domestic political agenda become so subservient to Tel Aviv's regional ambitions, asks Mustafa El-FekiPriority to Palestine
By shifting attention from Iraq to Palestine, can war be averted? asks Mohamed Sid-AhmedAping the masters
The central flaw in the Zionist case is the anti-Semitic argument that Jews and gentiles cannot live together, writes Robin HirschArabs and Muslims and the global order
Galal Amin focuses on the economic dimension as he sorts out what is old and what is new in the current world orderEditorial:
A bloody new year
Christmas festivities are in danger of being drowned out by the banging of war drums with the new year promising, if anything, even more belligerent tunes.Close up
Changing hats
From an Arab standpoint it is difficult to separate Washington's insistence on the strict implementation of Security Council resolution 1441 and the haste with which military preparations are being made to unseat the Iraqi regime..
By Salama A SalamaSoapbox
Systematic liquidation
UN Resolution 1441 requires that arms inspectors be given the names of individuals connected with Iraq's programmes of chemical, biological and nuclear warfare as well as with the construction of ballistic missiles.
By AUTHORThe Iraq war
Friends assure me that the war will take place and that it is certain Washington will invade Iraq.
By Naguib MahfouzBahgory One-line: SANAA GAMIL
A white flame
Technically, her acting had a cool, smooth, unblemished surface; but its impact was that of burning ice. Nehad Selaiha remembers Sanaa Gamil , who died on SundayPop goes the weasel
Amina Elbendary looks back on a year in culturePlain Talk
Casting is an important element in the success of any drama...Briefs
PALESTINIAN artist Mustafa Al-Hallag died last week following a fire in his Damascus home...
Dubious pleasures
By Youssef RakhaBlind date
Injy El-Kashef is back with a vengeanceChocolate Rum and Raisin
By Moushira Abdel-Malek Midnight ululations
As New Year's Eve approaches, party talk is big. Yasmine El-Rashidi uncovers the thrillsWeighing in on 2002
Al-Ahram Weekly offers an end-of-year sports account of the country's tops and flopsWinter warm-ups
Egypt's recent football friendlies are slowly helping the team to deal with the challenges ahead. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab shows how the squad is shaping upBrazil is No 1
Winning the World Cup was the year's top sports storyEasy passage lost
Not for the first time, the African Football Confederation (CAF) and Egyptian officials are at each other's throat...Children for change
Children can make a difference when given the chance. But how far can this rarely-explored resource be tapped? Gihan Shahine sifts through this year's State of the World's Children report for answers
By Gihan ShahineTurkish red-and-white saint
St Nicholas has inspired a Santa Claus and Call for World Peace festival in his hometown of Demre, Turkey. Sherif Sonbol was there
By Sherif SonbolSilent diplomat speaks out
Aziz Ezzat, Egypt's first ambassador to Britain, was the silent type. Either because he saw himself more as a representative of King Fouad I than of Egypt or perhaps because he was too pro-British, Ezzat declined to speak out publicly. But in a series of articles which appeared in Al-Ahram in 1930 and discussed here by Yunan Labib Rizk, Ezzat let his views on Egypt's relationship with Britain be known
Khaled Jubran: A selfless sensibility
To be a Palestinian musician you play at the edge of the abyss
By Youssef Rakha