Nbr. 2003, July 2003

Index

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• A different kind of war: the face of modern warfare is changing. In today's age of `Robo-soldier', tank-against-tank, platoon-against-platoon and eyeball-to-eyeball fighting is almost unthinkable, with the thought of Vietnam-era casualties an anathema to the American people.
• After Saddam a post-war Iraq: some of the pressing issues the United States will be forced to confront when it topples the regime of Saddam Hussein. Given that some measure of death and destruction is inevitable in any conflict, what kind of state might be expected to emerge from the ashes?
• Rebuilding Iraq: what role will Arabs play? US firms may have one major Iraq reconstruction contracts, but economic and political realities are compelling them to turn to Arab banks shippers and other sub-contractors to get the job done.
• Road map to peace: destination unknown.
• The aftermath: Saddam has gone and Baghdad is in ruins. What now for Iraq and its shell shocked people?
• The road show rolls on.
• The wall this new obscenity: as international attention is focussed on Iraq and the prospect of an American attack there, Israel is forging ahead with the construction of a wall--costing $1.7 million a mile that will effectively turn the West Bank into the world's largest prison.
• Hunting Saddam: Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has survived covert efforts to eliminate him, but he may be facing the endgame.
• Iraq debts.
• Israel: post-election challenges: Winston Churchill's caveat about "lies, damned lies and statistics" notwithstanding, which figure truly epitomises the 28 January election in Israel?
• No smoking gun but US keeps up the pressure: although the UN inspectors have found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq, Washington continues to press for action. The removal of Saddam Hussein from power might be acceptable but how feasible is this option?
• Report from Camp Freedom: the Hungarian camp being used to train Iraqi exiles for the Free Iraqi Forces.
• Sharon's real programme: Uri Avnery talked to Chris Kutschera about his friendship with the Israeli Prime Minister.
• Tense times for Kuwait's man in Washington: with bombs falling in Kuwait's backyard, Salem Abdullah Al Jaber Al Sabah the country's ambassador to Washingon--nervously follows CNN television news, worried about the effect this latest conflict will have on his country.
• OIC meet in Doha: mudslinging dominated the OIC conference in Qatar.
• The new Afghanistan: a year and a half after the first US air raids on Afghanistan, a better picture of what the war did--or did not--achieve has emerged.
• CNN Baghdad: an apology and a warning.
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• The New York Times: will anything stop Bush?
• This is worse than war: the strain of living with the constant threat of war hanging over them is beginning to tell on the Iraqi people. While they play no part in political events, it is they who will pay the biggest price if the US launches an attack.
• Israeli elections 2003: does the election of a new Labor leader to the Israel Knesset herald signs of change or just more of the same?
• On the eve of war, Iraqis turn to God; since 1980 Iraq has been a country at war. Now the happless Iraqi nation prepares for the latest onslaught.
• Staking a claim: for many Turks watching the TV pictures of armed Kurdish irregulars surging through the streets of Kirkuk in early April, it was as if they were seeing one of their darkest nightmares come to life.
• US rattles the sabre at Syria: following its "success" in Iraq the US appears to have turned towards Damascus.
• Do as we say, not as we do: the US has shown profound interest in the treatment of political prisoners since American service men and women began falling into Iraqi hands. Yet nobody in Washington seems to want to discuss the Geneva Convention when it comes the 650 "detainees" being held in Cuba.
• Friend or foe? Americans face a dilemma over what to do with Iran's Mujahedeen rebels in Iraq.
• GCC: lives to fight another day: the GCC Summit held in Doha at the end of December revealed a loss of cohesion between the six Gulf Cooperation Council States.
• Meanwhile in Kuwait.
• Missile madness: as Middle East tensions increase the menace of a new arms race by regional powers sharpens.
• US concern over `nuclear threat': as tension rises over the potential nuclear capabilities of Iraq and North Korea, US worries over nuclear developments in Iran have been less publicised.
• Having the last laugh: the US Administration has devoted vast amounts of time and money to attempting to understand what goes on in the mind of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein but there are few indications so far that any of the research has paid off.
• Snapshots from Iraq: Mariam Shahin has been a frequent visitor to Baghdad over recent years. After the fall of Saddam she returned to the Iraqi capital to find the city in disarray. At the time of going to press Barbara Bodine had gone, General Jay Garner was expected to leave any day and all hopes for an end to the anarchy were pinned on Paul Bremer. Meanwhile, the Iraqi people remained confused.
• Two steps forward, three steps back: the problems of a divided Cyprus will not go away despite a groundswell of public opinion, especially in the north, that the 29-year breech must now be healed.
• Will Iraq quit OPEC? Iraq's position in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is in the balance following the American take over of the country.
• Al Jazeera to launch English language TV.
• Five Years On.
• Debunking The Domino theory: a leaked State Department report casts doubt on the idea that the brave new Iraq the Bush administration anticipates, can ever be achieved.
• Federalism first: debate about what the Iraq of tomorrow will look like is ongoing and likely to continue for some time. The Kurds put forward a draft constitution last year. Chris Kutschera talked to several PUK and KDP politicians about their aspirations and the chances of achieving them.
• Healing the breech? After several years of severely strained relations and, in some instances, open hostility between the US and Sudan, an exchange of diplomats could herald a new era of cooperation.
• Omanis announce electoral reforms; Oman's Minister of Interior has announced a series of measures which will make a significant contribution to promoting increased democracy in the sultanate.
• Seeking the spirit of unity: a London meeting of representatives from Iraqi Opposition groups illustrated that simply getting rid of Saddam will not be enough to put Iraq back on the road to recovery.
• Bahraini women stand up to be counted: participation in democratic elections heralded a new era for Bahraini women in all sectors of society.
• Cult of the Kamikaze: coming to grips with suicide bombers as a new wave of attacks is threatened in Iraq.
• Entertaining a new epoch: Adel Darwish reports on developments on the streets of Baghdad and Basra.
• Europe: the politics of hate: Jews and Muslims have been the victims of racist attacks in France.
• Horses for courses: Israel has made some interesting modifications to its military hardware.
• Taszar: US army is believed to be training up to 4,000 Iraqi opposition troops at this Hungarian air base.
• An optimistic outlook: at the age of 79, widely respected Israeli elder statesman, former minister and foreign secretary Shimon Peres, remains optimistic peace can be achieved in his life time.
• It's not over yet: Saddam Hussein has been removed from power but the war with Iraq is not over yet and the costs of the conflict continue to rise, much to the consternation of the American taxpayer.
• On the terror trail: the threat of Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network still looms large but where should we draw the line between fact and propaganda?
• The end of an epoch?
• The Kurds and the coming war: there appear to be some rather serious contradictions in Washington's grand plan. One of the most puzzling of these is the Kurdish question.
• Yemen: the stakes are higher; in the last few months instability in Yemen has increased, reaching the highest levels since the civil war in 1994.
• Arab stock lures foreign investors: Arab governments may soon make extensive use of depository receipts to lure foreign investors in their next round of privatisations.
• Between the lines: have US spin doctors found a role for the Shi'ite population of southern Iraq as the `new' Kurds in this latest conflict?
• Not just about oil: Richard Seymour looks at the importance of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the formation of a post-Saddam Iraq.
• Save us from fair weather friends: much feted in Washington in 2002, when President Bush was looking for allies in his war on terror, Afghan President Hamid Karzai found US priorities had changed when he visited Washington last month.
• US naval initiative.
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• In my opinion: in an occasional feature in which the Middle East invites the opinion of a guest columnist, Adam M. Smith, a political economist at the United Nations, and a former staff member of the World Bank and the OECD, comments on the democratisation of Iraq which may prove problematic but is not without precedent.
• Splintered loyalties, shattered lives: bombings and shoot-outs in Ain il-Hilweh, Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp, are a portent of a growing power struggle between Arafat's mainstream Fatah and a new breed of Islamic fundamentalism. Giles Trendle recently spent two months in Ain il-Hilweh.
• Tehran's man in London: Golnar Motevalli talked to the Iranian Ambassador to the UK, HE Morteza Sarmadi.
• The 'bounty' of the Golden Crescent: the illegal drugs trade that has wreaked havoc across the western hemisphere for decades will gain a strong foothold in the Middle East, unless immediate action is taken by regional governments.
• The Latin American connection: the lawless tri-border region between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay is under new scrutiny as a haven for Arab extremists.
• The polemics of peace: Hamas has shown it has the power to sustain violence but might its influence be used to attain peace?
• Middle East power investments forcasted to top $8bn by 2022.
• Talisman Energy signs Qatari exploration sharing agreement.
• UK's Cimac automates Kuwait's irrigation network.
• The $50 billion arms bazaar: the countries of the Middle East region are spending billions of dollars on purchasing arms with individual governments investing vast sums of money to build their military capabilities.
• There may be trouble ahead: the new Turkish government has promised radical reforms and although early portents are good, achieving its stated goals will be no mean feat.
• DCCI lifts certification fees for local manufacturers.
• Metito proposes treated water solution for Damascus water treatment and desalination operator.
• Oman is different: celebrating the distinct character of the sultanate of Oman the country's centre for investment, promotion and export development boasts that "Oman is different." In reality Oman is unique.
• Seized Palestinian tax money covers debt to Israeli utilities.
• Eastern Europe and Arms Sales Opportunities: Tom Owen looks at who provided military ordinance to Iraq.
• Fearless investors storm the beaches of the gulf.
• Oman economic report: Oman enters the new year with high expectations of further success in achieving its goals of diversification, privatisation and Omanisation.
• Where have all the $$$ gone? Millions of dollars worth of Arab investment capital are claimed to have left the US since President Bush declared his war on terror. London was considered the likeliest recipient but the evidence is inconclusive.
• AFESD finances Dubai irrigation scheme.
• Africa's model economy: Tunisia has been hailed as the model for other African and Middle Eastern countries to follow in their quest for modernisation and growth. But, as Anver Versi reports, the country's road to success has been long and arduous.
• Cairo freezes agricultural ties with Israel on 25th anniversary Sadat's Jerusalem trip.
• Saudi traders criticise Prince Al Waleed's sheep deal with Sudan.
• KFAED loans Egypt $236m for canal development.
• Litani irrigation project construction commenced.
• Tunisia's African dimension: Tunisia has been intimately involved in the affairs of the rest of the continent from the era of the fight for independence to the current thrust for economic development.
• Tunisia's mountainous communities receive $34m loan.
• Turkey: is the honeymoon over? After being greeted with mild euphoria by Turkey's usually hard-headed financial markets last November, it seems the honeymoon has now ended for the country's new Justice and Development Party (AKP) government (Current Affairs).
• PDO to inject $1.5bn in oil production.
• Salim insurance company raises capital.
• Belgium's Distrigas signs new gas supply deal with Algeria.
• Between Iraq and a hard place: the run-up to the war in Iraq left Turkey with few friends.
• China provides Morocco with $6.4m for three new dams.
• How solidarity can beat poverty.
• India's largest paint-maker acquires Egypt's SCIB.
• Israel signs two franchise agreements for water desalination.