17 - 23 April 2003 [634]
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Smoke and ashes
Nermeen Al-Mufti sifts through the embers of Baghdad for the remnants of a town she knew so wellThe untidiness of edom
US officials were unmoved by accusations regarding the untidiness of 'freedom'. Instead, the hawks in the Bush administration started preparing for the next target. Khaled Dawoud reports from Washington
Mapping the future
Iraqi self-determination and pushing for action on the roadmap topped the Egyptian and Arab diplomatic agendas this week. Nevine Khalil and Soha Abdelaty reportNew challenges face the NDP
As the military campaign in Iraq begins to subside, the ruling NDP still has plenty to worry about. Gamal Essam El-Din reportsChanging the agenda
Was the poor turnout at a recent public rally in solidarity with Iraq symptomatic of receding political activism? Gihan Shahine gauges the moodExcellence personified
This week Al-Ahram Weekly and its Editor-in-Chief Hosny Guindy received two prestigious awards in recognition of the newspaper's superior coverage of Egyptian and Middle Eastern events...Hit hard -- but looking to rebound
While there's no denying the US invasion of Iraq's drastic impact on Egyptian tourism, Rehab Saad finds industry insiders confident of a recovery by year's end'Worse than 1967'
Egyptian intellectuals tell Amira Howeidy that Arab regimes don't seem to be learning the right lessons from the occupation of IraqShocked, awed and saddened
The downfall of Baghdad not only stunned Egyptians but also painted a bleak future for them. Shaden Shehab talks to the peopleNewsreel
Despite reports that he has been granted political asylum in Yemen, Iraq's ambassador to the Arab League said on 14 April that he would remain in his post.
The collapse
Galal Nassar analyses the reasons why Baghdad was so quick to fallWeek's events
After the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, anarchy spread in Baghdad, with the looting and destruction extended to Saddam's palaces, hotels, government buildings and hospitals.Parting ways?
As the Anglo-American aggression on Iraq enters its final phase, distance between London and Washington appears to be growing. Alistair Alexander reports from LondonAfter the fall
Ariel Sharon and the Palestinian leadership have felt the tremors from Iraq. But they have yet to make either change their ways. Graham Usher writes from JerusalemGrab-bag of Iraqi goodies?
Europe nervously waits to see if Washington will permit it to plot Iraq's future, writes Gamal NkrumahAll quiet on the southeastern front
A prickly calm reigns in Turkey's border towns following a week of increased tensions over military intervention in northern Iraq, reports Nyier Abdou in SilopiShall real justice prevail?
Soha Abdelaty investigates the possibilities for bringing US and British war officials to justice for committing crimes against humanityLegends of the fall
Following the bitter collapse of Baghdad, the threats directed at Damascus have been a jarring wake-up call for the Arab public. Sherine Bahaa reportsPoppies bloom in Iraq
Wednesday, 9 April, hailed the end of an era in the history of Baghdad, with a new one yet to begin. Nermeen El-Mufti writes from KirkukHumanitarian disaster looms
Relief agencies acknowledge there has been a slight improvement in the security situation in Baghdad, but as Rasha Saad reports, an aggravated humanitarian crisis is still loomingUS condemned over looting
News of last week's looting of the Baghdad Museum has been greeted by international condemnation of US occupying forces for failing to secure Iraq's heritage sites, writes David TresilianThe whirlwind of change
The road to America's new Iraq is fraught with uncertainties. Omayma Abdel-Latif reports on the formidable challenges facing post-Saddam IraqIt's not just Baghdad that fell
The Arab and Egyptian press this week focussed on the fall of Baghdad, how the media covered events, and the future of democracy in the Arab region, writes Aziza Sami
BAGHDAD SUPPLEMENT (APRIL 2003)
Of bridges and birds
Sinan Antoon sifts through the rubble of his native BaghdadIts famous names
Amina Elbendary revisits the tumultuous history of the city of peaceRemembrance of things past
On the City of Peace, Baghdad; Bab Al-Taq; The Fall of Baghdad (1258); Coffeehouses of Baghdad; Ottoman Baghdad (descriptions extracted from various sources)On the banks of the Tigris
Extracted from Jamal Haydar, Baghdad: Malamih Madina fi Dhakirat Al-Sitinat (Baghdad: Memories of a City in the 1960s), Casablanca, 200Baghdad's forgotten glory
Extracted from Jamal Haydar, Baghdad: Malamih Madina fi Dhakirat Al-Sitinat (Baghdad: Memories of a City in the 1960s), Casablanca, 200Muzaffar Al-Nawwab Remembers a distant childhood
Muzaffar Al-Nawwab is a renowned Iraqi poet, playwright and activist. Sinan Antoon interviewed him in Washington, May, 1996.Mystery in Mesopotamia
Following the occupation of Palestine in 1948, Palestinian writer Jabra Ibrahim Jabra (1920-1994), sought work in Baghdad, a city he fell in love with, one of whose natives he married, and which was to become the backdrop for most of his novels...Longing for Baghdad
Born to a Saudi father and an Iraqi mother, novelist Abdel-Rahman Mounif (b.1933) spent his formative years in Amman before travelling to Baghdad to study for his university degree...Doing good to people who don't want it
Freya Stark, Beyond Euphrates: Autobiography 1928-1933, London, 1951A view from nowhere
Youssef Rakha recalls a country he has never seenEchoes and flutters
Safynaz Kazem meditates on some melancholy Iraqi tunesA personal song
Poetry by Saadi Youssef, Muzaffar Al-Nawwab, Mahmoud Darwish and AdonisSpiral of Iraqi memory
Without an Alphabet, Without a Face: Selected Poems, Saadi Youssef, translated from the Arabic by Khaled Mattawa, Saint Paul, Minnesota: Graywolf Press, 2002. pp190An unquenchable thirst
'Alam Saddam Hussein (Saddam Hussein's World), Mahdi Haidar, Cologne: Al-Kamel Verlag, 2003. pp414At a glance
A shorthand guide to Iraqi books compiled by Mahmoud El-Wardani
Losing hope
Palestinians are steadily losing any faith they had in the Quartet's "road map" for peace with Israel, Khaled Amayreh reports from JerusalemChallenging uncertainties and injustice
Dina Ezzat listens to a poetic, but pragmatic proposal for peace and stability in the Middle East by French Foreign Minister Dominique de VillepinChanging Lebanon
In response to internal calls for a reshuffle and because of US threats against Syria, Lebanon is about to get a new government. Mohalhel Fakih reports from Beirut
The task ahead
Amid much reservation over its impact on local industry, the Egypt-EU Association Agreement was finally ratified last week. Gamal Essam El-Din and Niveen Wahish reportBuilding bridges
Just one week after the People's Assembly ratified the EU Partnership Agreement, economists are already pondering how it might help Egypt attract European direct investment. Mona El-Fiqi writesKraft takes a bite
The war in Iraq threatens to chase foreign investors away from the region, but the Egyptian food industry has proved to be attractive enough to weather the times. Yasser Sobhi finds outFighting for film
As traditional movie-goers stayed home to watch the war, the woes of the cinema industry have reached new heights, reports Eman YoussefWhat happened in Baghdad?
Ibrahim Nafie ponders what happened in BaghdadIsrael: the ultimate winner
Saleh Abdel-Jawwad examines, why Israel wanted the war against IraqIraq without a state
Mohamed Sid-Ahmed considers the implications of the breakdown of the Iraqi state
Wonders unending
Many questions remain about the sudden fall of Saddam Hussein, writes Mohamed Hakki. Equally puzzling, however, are many of the actions the US is taking in the post-war countryA triangle of hope
The Arabs have been distracted, but they should not lose heart. Mustafa El-Feki proposes action on three frontsWhen statues are toppled
Illusions have no place in mobilising for political action, Azmi Bishara arguesBahgory One-line: SADDAM HUSSEIN
Editorial: Beyond symbols and analogies
US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld was wrong when he likened the fall of Baghdad to that of the Berlin Wall...Close up
Iraq's roadmap
While Arab states have yet to adopt a clear position on the role of the UN in post- war Iraq, the US appears to be moving ahead quickly with its own plans for the country...
By Salama A SalamaSoapbox
The 'deal'
The Arab media fooled the Arab people, leading them to believe that the US-British invasion of Iraq would face stiff popular and military resistance...
By Salah EissaLooting in Iraq
The looting that has been taking place in Baghdad and in some other Iraqi cities owes less to the Iraqi people's failure to act honourably than to the situation in which their invaders have put them...
By Naguib MahfouzPack of Cards
By Madame Sosostris
Limelight
By Lubna Abdel-AzizHome sweet home
Egypt's three representatives in African football club competitions made the most of their territorial advantage, writes Abeer AnwarTwo weeks overdue
The clash between Ahli and Zamalek will be the main attraction as the Egyptian Premiership resumes after an unexpected break. Eric Asomugha reportsLondon marathon winner Paula Radcliffe has claimed she is capable of beating her new world record.
Briefs
Money and marriage
The FIFA World Youth Football Championship will be played in the United Arab Emirates after all...
One of the victims of the global depression, as it affected Egypt at least, was the marriage market which, especially in the middle class, stagnated entirely. During that period of economic straits, Professor Yunan Labib Rizk discovered what was really meant by "family values"
Mostapha Kamel El-Sayed: Beyond the horizon
Once, he wanted to build Egypt's first nuclear bomb; today he teaches about the values of fraternity and equality that bind us all
Profile by Fatemah Farag
Pack of Cards
By Madame SosostrisLimelight
By Lubna Abdel-Aziz