24 - 30 April 2003 [635]
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Indefinitely at war
To avoid being dubbed an occupying force, the US administration has delayed declaring the end of the war, Khaled Dawoud reports from WashingtonApproaching midnight
The dispute over Mahmoud Abbas's new Palestinian government sparked a full-blown political crisis. That is because it was not simply about government, reports Graham Usher in Ramallah
Closing ranks
The general post-war mood in the region is grim, causing several Arab leaders to close ranks and consult on the next stage of developments. Nevine Khalil reports on President Mubarak's first foreign post-war tripAl-Sahhaf's legacy
The fall of Baghdad two weeks ago has, paradoxically, boosted the popularity of former Iraqi information minister worldwide. Gihan Shahine finds out whyBack in the limelight
The ruling party's influential Policy Secretariat is back in action, striving to prove that it is Egypt's most important decision-making body. Gamal Essam El-Din reportsThe moral of the story
The ruling NDP says it is moving towards reform; independent and opposition pundits argue that it should be dissolved altogether, writes Gamal Essam El-DinFreedom first
Two journalists have been on a hunger strike for a week to protest the unfair detention of their colleague. Mona El-Nahhas spoke to the two menSaving the remains
Iraq's heritage has been looted and destroyed. Nevine El-Aref looks at Egypt's efforts to help restore and retrieve the treasuresMummification's earliest traces
Saqqara has recently yielded two amazing archaeological finds -- the oldest-ever Ancient Egyptian mummy, and an interesting cemeteryNewsreel
Eleven members of Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood group were arrested on Monday, including Sobhi Saleh, the under-secretary of the Alexandria Bar Association...A brief window of triumphalism
Just as the sporadic pockets of celebration at Saddam's defeat have been swiftly replaced with anger in Baghdad, so the mood in the corridors of Westminster has also noticeably darkened, writes Alexander Alistair in LondonIraq memories
Felicity Arbuthnot writes on her memory of every building in Baghdad that falls, crushed and broken to the groundWeek's events
The UN boosted its aid deliveries to Iraq, bringing 100 trucks of food from Turkey and opening up a new supply route via Jordan...Ya Hussein
Iraq's Shi'a population are shaping up to be a force to be reckoned with. Omayma Abdel-Latif looks at the complicated relationship between the occupation forces and Iraq's majority sectWhat collective Arab order?
Arab leaders are still unable to form a joint position with respect to Iraq, reports Dina Ezzat'Cultural catastrophe' hits Iraq
International experts meeting at UNESCO last week deplored the looting of Iraq's cultural heritage in the wake of the US-led invasion, calling upon the occupying forces immediately to secure Iraqi sites and institutions, reports David Tresilian from ParisFar-flung fallout
The Iraq war has had a profound impact on Latin America. However, it remains to be seen whether the fallout will be as harmful as some fear, Hisham El-Naggar writes from Buenos AiresBeyond oil
The way the US decides to structure Iraq's economy will be decisive to the evolution of its political economy, John Sfakianakis writesThe day after
Fallout from the US occupation of Iraq and the imperative to "democratise" continued to dominate the Arab press this week, finds Amina ElbendaryBy our own hands
The national press this week criticised the continued US presence in Iraq, while the independent and opposition papers highlighted new arrests of anti-war activists, writes Aziza Sami
Killing as usual
Flying in the face of international, particularly American, efforts to restart the stalled Middle East peace process, Israel's policy of killing civilians and demolishing houses is proceeding at full speed. Khalid Amayreh reports from NablusOutliving memory
Jonathan Cook in Deir Yassin commemorates a massacre that in the collective Palestinian memory still reverberates with chilling significanceWhy the US needs Syria
The "Syria-next" scenario has been avoided thanks to the efforts of President Bashar Al-Assad this week, writes Sami Moubayed in DamascusA tactical move
Why all the fuss now about Abul-Abbas, asks Samia Nkrumah from RomeIf neither east nor west: what now for Turkey?
Rebuffed by the EU and sidelined by the US, Turkey appears increasingly isolated from its Western allies, but history and its own prejudices look set to prevent it from establishing closer ties with other countries in the region, writes Gareth JenkinsYemen's elections
Nearly eight million Yemenis will go to the polls on Sunday, to elect a new parliament, the third since the fledgling democracy started in 1990. Nasser Arrabyee reports from Sana'a
Welcoming Karzai
Hopes are pinned on Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit to Pakistan to iron out differences between the distrustful neighbours, reports Iffat Idris from IslamabadBig is beautiful?
Politicians sipped champagne while anti-war protesters were tear-gassed at the Athens EU meeting, writes Gavin BowdAfghan impasse
As the world awaits the fate of an Iraq without Saddam Hussein, Afghanistan's future continues to lie in precarious imbalance, writes Negar AzimiObasanjo's clean sweep
Nigerian opposition parties cry foul after their rout in presidential elections, writes Gamal NkrumahCypriot celebration
Cyprus joins the European Union in spite of lingering tensions between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish communities in the divided island, reports Michael Jansen from NicosiaNukes as deterrent
Given regional pressures, the Beijing meeting between the US and North Korea may set a historical precedent, writes Faiza Rady
Waiting to see the light
Niveen Wahish speaks with the chairman of the ruling National Democratic Party's economic committee on the two controversial draft laws that promise to change the face of Egypt's economic outlookFrustration over forex
Who wants to hear about Pakistan? Sherine Abdel-Razek listened to angry participants at a recent seminar on the government's foreign exchange policyIsmailia reaches out
Sherine Nasr visits the city of Ismailia, and finds enormous potential for development
Out of Iraq and into Syria?
Ibrahim Nafie questions America's plans for the Middle EastWhat is happening to the United States?
What is formidable about Iraq is its rich culture, its complex society, and its long-suffering people, writes Edward Said . These were all made invisible, the better to smash Iraq as if it were only a den of thieves and murderersAn alternative approach to WMD
Mohamed Sid-Ahmed asks whether the elimination of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) cannot be handled otherwiseNot a game
Washington went straight from attacking Iraq to threatening Syria. Azmi Bishara says the world does not work that wayWhose truth?
The war against Iraq was not just fought in harbours, roads, and city streets, but on the airwaves. And truth was the victim, writes Galal AminWar and the forgotten continent
Peoples in the Middle East are not the only ones facing a mounting humanitarian crisis owing to the war in Iraq, write Rita Abrahamsen and Ray BushThe moment of truth
Iraq has rid itself of a terrible regime, but at what price? Challenging conventional wisdom, Osama El-Ghazali Harb argues that despotism is worse than occupationDescent into violence
The US occupation of Iraq will spark a new round of Islamist violence, Amr Elchoubaki predictsBahgory One-line: IRAQI MOTHER
Editorial: Test of wills
US President George W Bush and the entire Bush administration should take heed of the strong anti-US feelings expressed this week by Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims in the city of Karbala, 80km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad...Close up
Who will save Iraq?
The final communiqué of the emergency gathering by Iraq's neighbours held in Riyadh may have helped dispel a measure of the confusion that has dominated their responses to the fall of the Iraqi regime...
By Salama A SalamaSoapbox
A difficult labour
Minutes after the US-British war on Iraq started, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat gave a mandate to Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu-Mazen) to form the fourth Palestinian government...
By Abdel-Qader YassinThe Baghdad demonstrations
The huge demonstrations in Baghdad calling for national unity, particularly between Sunni and Shi'ite communities, and the withdrawal of the invading forces were perhaps the first positive development in Iraq following a series of disappointments...
By Naguib Mahfouz
Of love and magic
Where Swan Lake is performed, Amal Choucri Catta never tires of watchingIn progress
A faithful tenor
Hassan Kami, first tenor of Cairo's old and new opera houses, has performed title roles in the most distinguished venues worldwide, giving over 1,600 performances, including Aida, La Traviata and Otello in Egypt...
By Amal Choucri CattaPlain Talk
Now that the fire has ceased in Iraq, this is a time of reckoning. I do not mean an assessment of past military action or future political plans. I am concerned, rather, with that country's rich heritage and its archaeological treasures...
By Mursi Saad El-DinA connection to nowhere
Negar Azimi looks at one unlikely experience of the war periodAn impossible equation
Marking the release of a new documentary, Kim Jensen recalls the contribution of the Moroccan left-wing leader Mehdi Ben BarakaSpring cleaning
My mother made fun of me for carrying what she termed my "childhood memories" wherever I went...
By Amina ElbendaryRestaurant review
Levantine delights
Injy El-Kashef fears for usSufra dayma
Choc-Coconut Roughs
Weekly recipe
By Moushira Abdel-MalekMood swing
Bottled-up tears
Feelings of anxiety and depression are normal responses to disasters. But how much is too much? Rana Allam gauges the emotional toll of the war in Iraq
Young victims
Has the rhetoric of international agencies skirted the real causes for the anguish of Iraq's children? Hala Sakr considers the issuesWar games
Lina Mahmoud investigates the effects of invasion and occupation on half of Egypt's populationGoing for baroque
Malta in the cold and rainy months? Why not, asks Willa Thayer , after soaking up the eclectic architecture and language, shopping until she dropped, while dodging the midday thunderstorms
White night
Zamalek's colours were in ample evidence on the streets as the club thoroughly outclassed Ahli to move closer to the top of the league table. Eric Asomugha reports on the battle for supremacyHalf-time
Class act
Saturday was definitely Zamalek's day. The club not only beat Ahli in their classic encounter but did so in a convincing fashion...Still the scene
The Under-20 World Football Cup is on and the UAE remains the site of the action. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab sees how the decision was taken and Egypt's preparationsAhli's net gain
Ahli's volleyball team blanked Zamalek 3-0 to retain the cup for the second year running...Briefs
Elena Dementieva of Russia beat second seed Lindsay Davenport to win her first title in five years as a professional...
Taking the royal oath
The inauguration of new parliaments in Egypt starting from the 1920s normally entailed pomp and circumstance but only once before did the galas include the king taking the constitutional oath. It happened again, though, in 1931 and, as Professor Yunan Labib Rizk writes, the ramifications of the instance this time were greatMansour Khalid: Rebel and maverick
Rewriting Sudan with verve and passion
By Gamal NkrumahPack of Cards
By Madame SosostrisLimelight
By Lubna Abdel-Aziz