9 - 15 October 2003 [659]
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Sharon widens the field
Israel attacked Syria because it says it backs groups like Islamic Jihad. Arabs fear Washington stands behind Israel in this assessment, writes Graham Usher from JerusalemOT in Iraq
Orascom Telecom has won one of three licences to provide mobile telephone services to Iraq
'Exceptional ties'
Speaking after a busy week involving meetings with France, the UK and a speech before the UN General Assembly in New York, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder spoke to Ibrahim Nafie about Europe, Iraq and the Middle East shortly before he travelled to Egypt on Saturday. The following are excerpts of the interview given in Berlin and published in Al-Ahram on SaturdayA bounty of common good
The inauguration of a German university offered opportunity for Egypt and Germany to share visions and positions, writes Nevine KhalilVisions of peace
While the 30-year-old military feat of 6 October paved the way for peace in the region, this goal has yet to be achievedOpposition wants deeper reforms
The opposition welcomed recent NDP initiatives, but said the ruling party has not gone far enough to level the political playing field and bring true reform to the country. Gamal Essam El-Din investigatesA new page?
In a sign of historic reconciliation, three Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiya leaders were released after 22 years behind bars. Jailan Halawi writesSmugglers ring broken
Switzerland has helped Egypt crack on an international smuggling ring and bring its members to trial. Nevine El-Aref reportsKeeping to the straight and narrow
Islamists keep quiet as corruption is rooted out at the Bar Association. Mona El-Nahhas reportsUnderground overpriced?
Finding low-cost parking around the city's main square has just become a little more difficult. Reem Nafie tries the new Tahrir underground garagePriority for traffic?
A major Heliopolis traffic improvement project -- involving three new bridges and two new tunnels -- has just been completed. Gihan Shahine tracks its ups and downs
'No room for retaliation'
Israel's air raid on an alleged Palestinian Islamic Jihad camp near Damascus shifted Lebanese attention away from a prisoner exchange deal between Hizbullah and Israel. Mohalhel Fakih reports from BeirutCrossing red lines
Imad Fawzi Shueibi argues that Israel is playing with fire through its violation of the 2nd Disengagement Agreement of 1974 with SyriaSplit down the Front
Competition over the coming presidential elections has turned the Algerian political scene into a circus. Amira Howeidy joins the audiencePrivatisation vs democracy
Plans to sell Iraq's state-owned enterprises is an undemocratic move, writes Salah HemeidDeadly Intent
The Bush administration's attempt to put a good face on its failure to find WMDs in Iraq seemed hardly convincing to an increasingly sceptical American public, reports Khaled Dawoud from Washington'A bird with just one wing'
As the US ups the pressure on Iran to divulge its nuclear capabilities, Tehran is hardly in a position to set terms, writes Mustafa El-LabbadTurkish parliament votes to send troops to Iraq
Turkey became the first Muslim country to agree to send peace-keeping troops to support the US in Iraq. But many questions remain and an actual deployment is fraught with risks both for the Turkish government and region as a whole. Gareth Jenkins reports from Ankara
NDP's recipe criticised
Economic pundits claim that recommendations by the ruling party's first annual conference are by no means enough to tackle Egypt's economic woes. Gamal Essam El-Din reportsGirl power
Small funds are turning lives around in Aswan. Niveen Wahish reportsMarket up in September
Despite an overall economic gloom, a positive sentiment marked stock market transactions in September with both the blue chips and small caps gaining grounds Sherine Abdel-Razek reportsSporadic confidence
The Egyptian pound rose on the black market for the first time in eight months. Sherine Abdel-Razek investigates the reasonsCancun: fiesta or failure?
For world trade, Cancun was a stop on the way, not the end of the road, argues Adel BeshaiBriefs
Egypt's balance of payments account showed a remarkable increase to $602 million during the third quarter of the 2002-2003 fiscal year...'A naïve czar and a bunch of Rasputins'
Do Israeli considerations colour America's vision of Iraq? wonders Mohamed Hakki from WashingtonAnti-terror dud
Last week's decision by a US federal judge to throw out charges linking Zacarias Moussaoui with the 11 September attacks was a huge setback for the prosecution, writes David TresilianProclaiming a unique heritage
Arab-Americans are setting up their first museum in the US. Dina Ezzat reports from DetroitDown but not out
Despite emerging battered and bruised over the Iraq dossier, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is still set to hang on to power, writes Alistair Alexander from LondonSelling America to the Arabs
A US State Department report on ways to enhance America's battered image in the Arab and Muslim world is high on rhetoric and low on substance, Arab pundits told Omayma Abdel-Latif
Keys to cooperation
Designs to fragment the Arab world make reform of the Arab order imperative, writes Ibrahim NafieVirtually political
Modern forms of communication are changing the political landscape in unforeseen ways, argues Nabil Abdel-FattahFrom David Kelly to Valerie Plame
Already facing accusations that they overstated the case for war, Bush and Blair are now facing serious political challenges at home, says Mohamed Sid-AhmedA possible victory
Celebrations of the October War are not about triumphalism, writes Amr El-Choubaki . Rather, they are about the reconstruction that made that victory possibleEdward Said's journey to Ithaka
There is a place for us. Joseph Massad ponders the life and work of a beloved friend and a great manThe bullet and the pulpit
Syria will not take Sharon's bait, writes Sami MoubayedEdward Said and the politics of dispossession
A citizen of the world with roots deep in his homeland, Edward Said had an acute understanding of the anguish of the dispossessed, writes Ghada KarmiSymptoms of decay
Separating the private and public domains, says Azmi Bishara , is the first step toward the elimination of graftThe artist of our dream
It falls to us, disciples of the humane vision that Edward Said helped to construct, to deconstruct the false barriers that prevent its realisation, writes George NaggiarEditorial:
Sharon flails out
The Israeli strike against what it claimed were Palestinian bases near the Syrian capital Damascus was unjustifiable...Close up
Public relations and politics
Many rulers and officials in the Arab world agree that the US role in resolving the Arab- Israeli conflict is indispensable...
By Salama A SalamaSoapbox
The bureaucratic mind
While bureaucratic shortcomings are everywhere they are nowhere so harmful as in educational institutions and business concerns...
Remembering October
The generation that lived through the October War will never forget its impact...
By Naguib MahfouzBahgory One-line: FAROUQ AL-SHARA'
Three decades on
Bittersweet memories on the 30th anniversary of the October 1973 War were splashed on the pages of the Egyptian press. Gamal Nkrumah sifts through the chroniclesThen and now
Thirty years after the 6 October War, the Arab press has much to recollect. Dina Ezzat surveys the remains and reminders of the dayBottom Lines
Quotes from the Arab press
Some 2,000 years ago, Alexandria drew to its ancient library and Temple of the Muses -- the Mouseion -- the luminaries of the ancient world: Archimedes, Euclid, Eratosthenes, St Mark and Manetho, to name only a few. Within its walls, the first translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek was made. The institution and the city came to symbolise diversity, culture and boundless learning, and it was the point at which cultures and civilisations met and flourished. It is this legacy that today's Bibliotheca Alexandrina -- the ultramodern, 11-storey disc-shaped structure standing proudly on the Chatby Corniche in Alexandria -- continues to evoke.
On the occasion of the first anniversary of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Al-Ahram Weekly takes stock of a new legacy in the making
A work in progress
By Mrs Suzanne MubarakTapping into profound currents
Why is E=MC2 so amazing? In an exclusive interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina's director Ismail Serageddin talks to Fatemah Farag about releasing the mind to discover a world beyond the pale of imaginationFriendly science
Reem Nafie stargazes at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina's Planetarium Science CentreNo adults allowed
Learning for all ages at the Bibliotheca. Amira El-Noshokaty reportsConditional knowledge
Youssef Rakha enters the peculiar world of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina's Manuscripts and Rare Books CentreWindow on the word
A year after the opening of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the virtual library is gaining prominence. Dena Rashed steps into the library's digital worldA battle of two cities
Can the modern city of Alexandria grow without obliterating the last vestiges of its history? Nevine El-Aref investigatesArchaeologist with a mission
French archaeologist Jean-Yves Empereur tells Al-Ahram Weekly about his 13-year-long quest to preserve the ancient city of AlexandriaMadame Christina: A place apart
The Elite, restaurant-bar-café, and its proprietor, Mme Elite, feature prominently on the imaginative map of cultural Alexandria...The return
As old as the city which they founded, the Greek link with Alexandria was reestablished in a big way during the 19th Century. Euthimios Soulogiannis provides a brief account of Egyptiot historyMemories for sale
In the heart of old Alexandria, the relics of history are sold off wholesale. Fatemah Farag shops at Al-AttarinStrictly to specifications
The design is Norwegian, the construction, Egyptian. And it's been a marvelous feat of engineering. Al-Ahram Weekly interviews Mamdouh Hamza, the man behind the building
'We shall not lose'
To mark the 30th anniversary of the October War Galal Nassar reviews its conduct and strategic objectivesThey said about October
Quotes from the book "The October War through the Eyes of Contemporary Witnesses"Major events, facts and precedents
6 October 1973 time-line
The art of lost battles
The defeat of 1967 gave rise to several powerful films. The victory of 1973 spawned only the mediocre. Hani Mustafa ponders a paradoxAn apotheosis confirmed
Amal Choucri Catta thrills to the dancePlain Talk
And yet another blow to our paper. The death of Edward Said represents an enormous loss for the Weekly...
By Mursi Saad El-DinPhoto Catpion
The 27th round of the Cairo International Film Festival was inaugurated by Culture Minister Farouk Hosny on Tuesday night in a star-studded ceremony that paid tribute to the legends of both Arab and international movie-making...Of Frenchmen and the Maghreb
Youssef Rakha speaks with Youssef Sherif Rizkalla, artistic director of the 27th Cairo International Film FestivalCairo International Film Festival programme
Tiny foreskins in little muslin bags
Is superstition alive and well? Jenny Jobbins has been looking at how families mark the birth of a childMood Swings: Can't buy me love
Happiness is an arduous state to reach. Contentment is not much easier...
By Yasmine El-RashidiRestaurant review: A perfect moment
Injy El-Kashef knows that less is sometimes moreSufra Dayma: Veal Goulash
Weekly recipe
By Moushira Abdel-Malek
When dreams turn to salt
A once-promising land reclamation project for new graduates is now a wasteland of lost hope. Yasmine Fathi investigatesNot just ugly
Lina Mahmoud investigates mixed opinions on the transplanted freshwater crayfish in Cairo's Nile watersConnecting people
In an exclusive interview John Grote, director of the British Council in Egypt, talks to Fatemah Farag about shared humanityThe British Council and I
Mursi Saad El-Din remembers the British Council under Egyptian ruleDown memory lane
Below, extracts from Frances Donaldson's The British Council: The First Fifty Years (Butler and Tanner Ltd, 1984) shed light on the institute's long history in Egypt
Taking a seat in history
President Anwar El-Sadat is remembered in two museums. Amira El-Noshokaty compares themAncient peace
Part of a cuneiform tablet showing diplomatic correspondence between Egypt and the Hittites has been unearthed near the Delta village of Al-Qantir, reports Nevine El-Aref
Germany over all
Like other newspapers around the world, Al-Ahram closely monitored the developments in Germany and the rise of Adolph Hitler in 1933. Certain that the events in Germany would have repercussions worldwide, the paper published an eight-article series over a month depicting the rise of Nazism. Professor Yunan Labib Rizk relates the story
Barbara Harrell-Bond: For the good of it
This Barbara doesn't beat around the bush
Profile by Gamal Nkrumah
Making one Africa
Africa set aside its problems to celebrate unity, peace and love at the Eighth All-Africa Games in Abuja. Eric Asomougha reports from NigeriaClosing in
Ismaili kept Egypt's last hope alive in the African Champions League after easing into the semi-finals with a 2-0 win over ASEC Mimosas of the Ivory Coast, writes Mohamed El-SayedBriefs
Pack of Cards
One of five African countries bidding to host the 2010 World Cup, Egypt made its official presentation to the world's football governing body FIFA in Zurich last week...
By Madame SosostrisLimelight
By Lubna Abdel-Aziz