The Middle East articles from January 2002

The Middle East archives from January 2002

Foes to the end? Adel Darwish reports on the latest show-down between the Middle East's two old warhorses, Yasser Arafat and Ariel Sharon, and -- in the light of the personal enmity that exists between them -- ponders the prospect for peace. (Current Affairs).(Statistical Data Included)(Cover Story)
January 1, 2002... It was like a scene from the sequel to the 1982 block-buster The Siege of Beirut, starring Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat: the Palestinian leader with his back to the wall, ducking shells as Israeli tanks advanced on his headquarters, already...

Azmi Bishara on trial. (Current Affairs).(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... For years Palestinians have looked at Azmi Bishara, the Arab-Israeli Member of the Knesset (MK) and self-styled leader of the one million or so Arabs with Israeli citizenship, with some suspicion. Some thought of him as an individualist while...

Gunning for Bin Laden: the endgame. (Current Affairs).(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... Donald Rumsfeld, the acerbic US secretary of defence, made no bones about it: he would rather that Osama bin Laden was killed than taken alive. Asked on an American television show whether the expression `taken dead or alive', as George W...

The wall of fear crumbles. (Current Affairs).(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... On 17 July 2000, during his swearing-in-ceremony President Bashar Assad called on his regime to open up and start accepting the opinions of others. Immediately the Syrian people, longing for freedom of expression, responded to his call. ...

The plot thickens. (Current Affairs).(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... The US has publicly named the Lebanon-based Usbat Al Ansar (the League of Partisans), a previously little-known group, as being closely linked to Al Qaeda and therefore on its blacklist of 27 target organisations. Usbat is a loosely organised...

Afghanistan's major export prepares for a comeback: as the Taliban retreat from Afghanistan, plans to revitalise its most successful export industry -- worth $80 billion in 1999 -- are in train. (Current Affairs).(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... In 1999 Afghanistan exported an estimated $80 billion worth of heroin. In 2000 poppy production was outlawed by the ruling Taliban and exports dwindled to almost nothing last year. Now the oppressive Taliban regime has been ousted, plans are...

The Labyrinthian money trail of Osama bin Laden: President George W Bush is committed to separating Osama bin Laden from his financial support. But before he can confiscate it, first he must find it. (Business & Finance).(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... Osama bin Laden has been called "the Ford Foundation of terrorists", for his funding of operations such as the suicide attacks in the United States, the US embassy bombings in East Africa and the attempted millennium bombings in Jordan and...

Sanctions, aid, and pipeline prospects. (Business & Finance).(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... The 11 September attacks on the US have, in an extraordinarily short space of time, radically altered the geo-politics of Central Asia and the Subcontinent. Plainly, Afganistan will soon have a new government, and although no one yet knows what...

No free lunch for Ankara: everything comes with a price as Turkey -- the recipient of generous US aid -- is finding out. (Business & Finance).(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... The end of 2001 saw the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in especially generous mood in its dealings with Turkey. A year after the country suffered its financial crisis in November 2000, the IMF awarded the beleaguered Turkish economy a hefty...

Palestinians take legal action against Israeli firms: Mariam Shahin reports from the Occupied Territories on a pending legal battle which could change the nature of commerce between Palestinians and Israelis for good. (Business & Finance).(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... JAWWAL, the Palestinian cellular phone company, has its headquarters on the edges of Ramallah, the West Bank's largest commercial city. In an imposing high rise, surrounded by communications towers, the JAWWAL offices serve as the hub of the...

Range Rover. (Business & Finance).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... It's been like a version of the children's game `pass-the-parcel', but Land Rover's corporate identity has passed through a clutch of owners since the launch of the original Range Rover. Over three decades it has led the Sports Utility Vehicle...

Arab drug industry challenged. (Business & Finance).(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... For over 70 years, the Arab pharmaceutical industry has enjoyed a protected market -- benefiting from both government subsidies and sanctions to deliver low-cost medicines to the general public. That is about to be swept away, due to changes in...

Cyprus: a cautious optimism prevails. (Business & Finance).(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... Ever since Turkish troops first stormed up the beaches of northern Cyprus, back in the summer of 1974, it has become something of a cliche in international diplomacy for some European or American politician to claim every 12 months or so that...

Into 2002: the new year brings new challenges.(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... Oil revenues, workers' remittances, and the services industry, including tourism, banking and finance, as well as construction, provide the mainstay of economic activity across much of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The...

Charles Diana And Me And Other Stories: Translated From The Arabic. (Books in Brief).
January 1, 2002... CHARLES DIANA AND ME AND OTHER STORIES TRANSLATED FROM THE ARABIC By Ahmed Fagih published by Kegan Paul international ISBN 0 7103 0631 8 price 19.95 [pounds sterling] hardback Ten of Ahmed Fagih best short stories are included in...

Palestine/Israel: Peace Or Apartheid: Prospects For Resolving The Conflict. (Books in Brief).
January 1, 2002... PALESTINE/ISRAEL: PEACE OR APARTHEID PROSPECTS FOR RESOLVING THE CONFLICT By Marwan Bishara published by Zed Books ISBN 1 84277 110 8 price 32.95 [pounds sterling] $55.00 hardback ISBN 1 84277 111 6 price 9.99 [pounds sterling] $17.50...

The Concise Encyclopaedia Of Islam: Revised Edition. (Books in Brief).
January 1, 2002... THE CONCISE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF ISLAM REVISED EDITION By Cyril Glasse published by Stacey International ISBN 1 900988 062 price 45.00 [pounds sterling] hardback There is no other single-volume work in print encompassing the beliefs,...

The Struggle For Independence 1939-1947: A History Of The Hashemite Kingdom Of Jordan. (Books in Brief).
January 1, 2002... THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE 1939-1947 A HISTORY OF THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN By Maan Abu Nowar published by Ithaca Press ISBN 0 86372 283 0 price 35.00 [pounds sterling] hardback Written by a former deputy prime minister of...

Holy Land, Unholy War: Israelis And Palestinians. (Books in Brief).
January 1, 2002... HOLY LAND, UNHOLY WAR ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS By Anton La Guardia published by John Murray ISBN 0 7195 5601 5 price 22.50 [pounds sterling] hardback The struggles of the Israelis and Palestinians command the obsessive attention...

Morocco Under King Hassan. (Book in Brief).
January 1, 2002... MOROCCO UNDER KING HASSAN By Stephen O Hughes published by Ithaca Press ISBN 0 86372 285 7 price 25.00 [pounds sterling] hardback Due to strict press laws, no Moroccan has ever published a dispassionate account of the country and...

Turkey At The Crossroads: Ottoman Legacies And A Greater Middle East. (Books in Brief).
January 1, 2002... TURKEY AT THE CROSSROADS OTTOMAN LEGACIES AND A GREATER MIDDLE EAST By Dietrich Jung with Wolfango Piccoli published by Zed Books ISBN 1 85649 867 0 price 15.95 [pounds sterling] $25.00 paperback ISBN 1 85649 866 2 price 49.95 [pounds...

The Tutankhamun Deception: The True Story Of The Mummy's Curse. (Books in Brief).
January 1, 2002... THE TUTANKHAMUN DECEPTION THE TRUE STORY OF THE MUMMY'S CURSE By Gerald O'Farrell published by Sidgwick & Jackson ISBN 0 283 07293 8 PRICE 18.99 [pounds sterling] hardback The discovery and excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb is...

Kandahar. (Mosaic).(Motion picture)(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... When the Afghan based film Kandahar premiered at last year's Cannes film festival, few who saw it would have predicted a commercial success. Despite the film's obvious brilliance, most of those in the Cote d'Azur audience last May would have...

L'Orient de Saladin. (Mosaic).(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... Saladin -- the 12th century Sultan of Egypt and Syria -- is credited as being the man who "drove" the Christians, i.e. the Franks, out of Jerusalem, which fell before the onslaught of his troops on 2 October 1187, and brought an end to western...

More than a number: we are all familiar with the statistics attached to the current Intafada. But how familiar are we with the people they represent? When we hear of another victim we ask if he was a Palestinian or an Israeli. Rarely do we ask to know his name, what he looked like or if he had children.. (Mosaic).(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... Issa Suf is the father of a young son. He lives near the area of Salfeet, in north Palestine, where he used to work as a fitness trainer. He is now confined to a wheelchair with pieces of a shattered Israeli bullet still embedded near his...

Breathing new life into Sarajevo. (Mosaic).(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2002... The Dobrinja housing estate on the outskirts of Sarajevo saw some of the heaviest and bloodiest fighting of Bosnia's four year civil war. A Muslim area, it became a vital link from the main part of the city to the airport, next to which it...