Brian Whitaker
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/ 27 July 2006

The T-shirt seller of Beirut

The Phoenicians were the greatest traders of the ancient world and the Lebanese are their descendants. In Lebanon, every situation — no matter how dire — is an opportunity for someone to do business. Ammar runs a shop selling decorative inlaid boxes, hubble-bubble pipes, necklaces, keffiyehs (cotton headdresses), historical-looking artefacts and just about anything else that a tourist in Beirut might be induced to buy.

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/ 3 July 2006

Unspeakable love

The threats directed against gay Arabs for besmirching the family’s name reflect an old-fashioned concept of ”honour” found in the more traditionalist parts of the Middle East. Homosexuality tends to be viewed either as wilfully perverse behaviour or as a symptom of psychiatric disturbance, and dealt with accordingly.

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/ 13 March 2006

Behind the veil

”A heavy metal door guards the entrance to the women’s section of the Nardeen lighting company in Riyadh. To gain admittance, you press the bell and wait. In my case it is a long wait because the arrival of a male visitor brings production to a halt inside the factory while the workforce of 30 women shroud their faces in black,” writes Brian Whitaker.

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/ 5 January 2006

Huge shadow cast over Israel

Just a few weeks ago there was a feeling that Ariel Sharon, the master tactician, had finally broken the mould of Israeli politics. With his plans held hostage by the right wing of the Likud party, he decided to call their bluff by breaking away and forming his own group. It was a huge gamble, but it seemed to be working. But Sharon’s illness could lead to disaster at the polls as his party loses its focal point.

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/ 12 September 2005

Out in force

Hosni Mubarak’s party machine put on an overwhelming display of organisational strength recently as Egyptians voted in the country’s first contested presidential election. The 77-year-old president, who is seeking another six-year term, went into battle against nine opponents, whose party organisations were mainly invisible as voting took place.

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/ 1 July 2005

Presidential candidate accused of forgery

Amid chaotic scenes in a Cairo court, the main opposition candidate in Egypt’s forthcoming presi-dential election went on trial on Tuesday accused of forgery. Ayman Nour, leader of the Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) party, has faced constant harassment since declaring his intention to run for the presidency and says the charges are trumped up. A conviction would automatically disqualify him from the election in September.

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/ 18 March 2005

Syria starts packing

The once-feared Syrian intelligence agents vanished from Beirut and large parts of Lebanon on Wednesday, but not before repainting the jail in the basement of their headquarters. Almost all their intelligence offices in north Lebanon and the mountains east of Beirut were abandoned, and 150 to 200 agents moved to the eastern Beka’a valley.