5 -11 June 2003 [641]
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The road taken
After three years George Bush has thrown his weight behind the roadmap. Where will it end, asks Graham UsherMatters of permission
Yesterday was the deadline for the registration of NGOs. Mariz Tadros wonders what's in store for civil society
Matters of permission
Yesterday was the deadline for the registration of NGOs. Mariz Tadros wonders what's in store for civil societyDriving along the roadmap trail
The first US-Arab summit set the stage for the long road to peace, but the pace of progress depends on how long Bush retains his hands-on approach. Nevine Khalil, in Sharm El-Sheikh, reports on Tuesday's happening, and picks at some sticking pointsExpanding Cairo's gateway
The first phase of a long-awaited upgrade and expansion of Cairo International Airport is being inaugurated this week. Amira Ibrahim reportsA preacher's journey
Controversy seems to follow Muslim televangelist Amr Khaled wherever he goes. Gihan Shahine investigates the motives behind the recent cancellation -- and return -- of his popular satellite TV showConvoy to Baghdad
In an attempt to help stem the worsening humanitarian crisis in post-war Iraq, the Doctors' Syndicate has been organising a massive relief campaign. Reem Nafie reportsSticking points
Whether it was because of the scenic location or the sunny weather, the delegations from Egypt, the US, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority looked at ease on Tuesday as they chatted with one other and exchanged positive body language...Pressing for progress
Egypt's ambassador to Washington, Nabil Fahmy, urged the US to aggressively address the Middle East peace process and expressed doubts that Iraq could set a model for change in the region, Khaled Dawoud reports from WashingtonTimeless ties
Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, on a visit to Athens, urged the cultures of the world to come together for the good of humankind. Inas Nour , in the Greek capital, reportsA complex ballot
Although this month's Press Syndicate elections will take place as scheduled, the controversy surrounding them may be around for a while. Shaden Shehab reports'The solution is dissolution'
A Cassation Court order declaring the 2000 parliamentary election result in an East Cairo district invalid has opened up a Pandora's box of questions about judicial supervision of elections. Gamal Essam El-Din reportsShuffling the courts
The much-vaunted new law amending certain harsh and antiquated aspects of the criminal justice system may make Egypt more extradition-friendly. Reem Leila reportsArdent advice
A talk by US Ambassador in Egypt David Welch seemed to have broken new ground in diplomacy last week. For many Egyptians, the ambassador's tone recalled the long-defunct post of British high commissioner. Gamal Essam El-Din reportsNewsreel
The editor-in-chief of the weekly Al- Osbou' newspaper and his deputy were arrested on Monday following a verdict issued by the Court of Cassation on Sunday upholding a one- year prison term passed against them by a lower court three years ago...Back in Sharon's court
An agreement may pave the way to end attacks inside Israel. Khaled Amayreh reports from JerusalemDisplaced yet again
After being forced from their homes, Palestinian refugees living in Iraq find themselves in a living hell, while Palestinian volunteers suffer the after-shocks of fighting on the Iraqi front. Rasha Saad reports from BaghdadThe killing fields
Survivors of the 1991 Intifada are finally able to search for their dead, but as volunteers continue to uncover mass graves in southern Iraq, evidence that could be used in future tribunals is slipping away, reports Nyier Abdou in HillaSharon's 'united' Jerusalem
Israel quietly transfers Palestinian Jerusalemites prior to the implementation of the roadmap. Annika Hampson reports from JerusalemArchive: Camp David I: The Framework for Middle East Peace
With the revival of the defunct peace process via the roadmap, Al-Ahram Weekly commences publishing an abridged documentary history of Palestinian/Israeli peace efforts.Democracy's oasis -- a mirage
Israeli war crimes go unpunished as human rights reports blast Israeli practices. Jonathan Cook writes from NazarethNormalising repression
According to one human rights watchdog, Arab states and Israel have one thing in common -- ever-increasing human rights violations. Dina Ezzat reportsRoadmap wasteland
US ups pressure by excluding Syria and Lebanon from roadmap process. Mohalhel Fakih reports from Beirut'Only themselves to blame'
Former US Ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, believes that Arab and American interests require a long-term presence in Iraq. He talked to Khaled Dawoud in WashingtonRoadmap timeline
25 May: Israeli government endorses "steps" in Mideast roadmap by a 12-7 vote.A contest of power
A crackdown on Islamists in Saudi Arabia is being matched by a crackdown on their reform-minded critics, writes John R Bradley from JeddahBasra's tears
Once dubbed the Smile of the Gulf, Basra is struggling to regain its erstwhile identity. Nermeen Al-Mufti reports from southern IraqBriefs
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Tuesday defended his government's response to last month's devastating earthquake and appealed to the European Union for reconstruction aid...
Two cities and one dream
Mona Anis sets out in search of a dream and of a city like her native Cairo
Poor show at Evian
With conflict at home and the fall-out from the war on Iraq, initiatives to reduce debt in the South and to advance African development slipped off the G-8 summit's agenda, writes David Tresilian from ParisAfrican window-dressing?
The G-8 offered African economies little more than the usual rhetoric, writes Wael GamalTurning up the heat
Tony Blair is being increasingly cornered on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, reports Alistair Alexander from LondonA meeting of minds
US President George W Bush came, saw, and conquered St Petersburg. Shohdy Naguib reports from RussiaUnaccountable elites
British writer Mark Curtis talked to Assem El-Qersh , in London, about his latest book on British interests in the Middle East. Below are extracts from the interviewA new beginning
A semblance of joy has returned to Argentina with the inauguration of President Nestor Kirchner. Hisham El-Naggar writes from Buenos AiresLosing a battle
The Bush administration's "war on terror" may also include a war on many of the gains made by AIDS activists, writes Negar Azimi
Oiling the slump
With Arab economies already suffering from protracted decline in growth rates, the US occupation of Iraqi promises to push them into an even worse slump. Wael Gamal examines 'the oil factor'FTA inches forward
The US may have political motives for an FTA, but for Egypt, it would be an economic pat on the back. Sherine Abdel-Razek looks into the aims on both sidesDavos in the Middle East
A regional meeting of world business leaders this month promises to put pivotal global issues in the spotlight. Mona El-Fiqi reportsBriefs
After almost two weeks of debate in parliament, the People's Assembly finally approved the new Unified Banking Law on 28 May...Today is World Environment Day. Al-Ahram Weekly marks the occasion by taking stock of Egypt's efforts to come to grips with environmental degradation
Fresh water, fresh thinking
WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY is celebrated each year on 5 June and is considered one of the United Nation's main vehicles for generating world-wide awareness of environmental issues...Containing pollution
Mahmoud Bakr talks with Minister of Environmental Affairs Mamdouh Riyad about the government's plans to protect the environmentEngineering conservation
Fatemah Farag visits one of the country's most polluted lakes, and finds that the environmental is highly politicalSewage salvation
Too little fresh water, too much effluent. Mahmoud Bakr looks at an innovative way of dealing with the dilemmaForces of nature
Renewable energy may offer Egypt a brighter, cleaner future. Amira El-Noshokaty investigates the use of green power in Upper EgyptThe cost of cleanliness
For almost two years, the French have been collecting Alexandria's garbage. Dena Rashed heads north to report on the dynamics of private waste management
Essential action
US engagement in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict requires actions as well as words, writes Ibrahim NafieCasualty of truth
Even Hollywood may not be able to save the legend of Private Lynch, writes Azmi BisharaCritical summitry
Mohamed Sid-Ahmed wonders whether the two Middle East summits represent a window of opportunity for a breakthrough towards peaceThe arch of globalisation
What do you make of the US invasion of Iraq? In this instalment of his on-going series on Iraq, Abdel-Moneim Said reviews 10 reasons for the Anglo-Saxon warInterim is forever
A new Middle East peace initiative is getting underway. But, unless we are careful we can repeat the mistakes of Oslo, warns Mustafa BarghoutiMisreading Syrian signals
Threats to Damascus are self-defeating, if their real objective is political reform, warns Anders StrindbergTrimming the fat
The lumbering, bureaucratic structures of Arab diplomacy must be overhauled if the Arab world is to become a viable player on the internatinal stage, writes Abdallah El-AshaalPreachers of bigotry
"Kill them all, let Allah sort them out." Muqtedar Khan discusses the grim ramifications of the American Evangelicals' campaign of hatred against Muslims and IslamBreeze or squeeze
Mohamed El-Sayed Said examines Washington's likely demands at Tuesday's Sharm El-Sheikh summitHow honest, the broker?
Who's Elliot Abrams? Laila Al-Marayati, who sat with him on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, provides some cluesEditorial: Credibility counts
The credibility of the Bush administration's Middle East policy hangs on the outcome of the two summits in which the US president has participated over the last two days, the first in Sharm El-Sheikh, the second in Aqaba...Close up
The wrong moves
The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) is a recent addition to Egypt's political life. Over the past few years the Chamber has emerged as an arm of the US administration, speaking on its behalf and expressing its policies...
By Salama A SalamaSoapbox
Rights not righted
A few days ago, the cabinet referred a draft law to the People's Assembly, proposing the creation of a national council on human rights...
By Baheieddin HassanCartographic moves
It seems as each day passes that we are getting closer to the possibility of implementing the roadmap...
By Naguib MahfouzBahgory One-line: BUSH AND CHIRAC
Serious intentions
Aziza Sami looks at the Arabic press on the eve of the Sharm El-Sheikh summit
Varieties of madness
Nehad Selaiha is caught in an orgy of violence at the French Cultural CentreIn progress: Tapping energies
Nora Amin graduated from the Faculty of Art at Cairo University having studied French and Comparative Literature...Plain Talk
I had thought that I might have finished with writing about the problems of translation. Not so: translation, as always, is a perennial problem...
By Mursi Saad El-DinPhoto Caption
Film aficionados in Cairo have increasingly been finding their thirst for cinema satiated at the downtown centre of the Goethe Institute, writes Negar Azimi...The caged bird sings
Art provides many outlets for the children of Aida refugee camp, finds Amina ElbendaryA broken promise
Amal Choucri Catta accepts the inevitable
Smoke screens
With anti-smoking drives gaining momentum across the globe, Amina Elbendary investigates the role of the media in perpetuating the habitBeating big tobacco
Last month the first global treaty on tobacco control was adopted. Hala Sakr reports on the politics of smoke and international efforts being exerted to stamp out tobacco useCome undone
At times, a journalist in Iraq can feel like a glorified tourist...
By Nyier AbdouUnpleasantly surprised
Injy El-Kashef is saved by the belly-dancerCreamy Chicken Fettucine
Weekly recipe
By Moushira Abdel-MalekThe storyteller said
Once upon a time folk tales suppressed the female voice. Now, as Amany Abdel-Moneim discovers, a group of scholars is rewriting traditional Arabic tales to portray stronger images of womenGiant killed
In less than one week, Zamalek were ousted from the local football cup and the African Champions League. Eric Asomugha reports on the crashKnocked for a six
Ismaili cruised to the group phase of the Champions League. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab reports on the Egyptian club's walk in the park and other African encountersInvesting in life
The Special Olympics for athletes with special needs has launched a new campaign. Inas Mazhar sees what the activity entailsHalf - time: All in the bid
The Special Olympics for athletes with special needs has launched a new campaign. Inas Mazhar sees what the activity entails
Iraq was first
Iraq was the first Arab country to join the League of Nations, having acquired this status by virtue of a treaty signed with Britain in 1930. Its membership was a landmark in the advancement of Arab nationalism. Three-quarters of a century later, Iraq was invaded and occupied. Professor Yunan Labib Rizk examines the two events
Mehdi Ali: Changes of tack
The pursuit of excellence, with random twists
Profile by Yasmine El-Rashidi
Limelight: Renaissance of a genius
For five centuries he has been considered the definitive image of the Renaissance Man -- scientist, theorist, painter, architect, astronomer, anatomist, geologist, biologist, engineer, inventor, mathematician, philosopher and musician, Leonardo da Vinci is experiencing a renaissance of his own...