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Category Archives: Uncategorized
El-Alamein 70 years on
Anniversaries are popular, and seventy has a good ring to it, so it was no surprise the other day to find tour buses at Alamein carrying tourists, that most rare of specie in Egypt this past couple of years. It … Continue reading
Achieving the Egyptian way
It seems unsurprising that an 18 year-old Egyptian woman wants to be a journalist. Many were politicized by the 2010 Revolution. To achieve the necessary college education she must get high grades in the final General Secondary School exam next … Continue reading
For want of education
Comparative religion is not taught in schools in the Middle East. Which is a pity because a little understanding of Christianity would have informed Ahmed Mohammed Abdullah that Christians from different Churches or Denominations have very different theological tenets resulting in … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Ahmed Mohammed Abdullah, bible, blasphemy, Christianity, Egypt
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Summer strategies in hot climates
If it is 31 oC at 3:15 am at Erbil airport when my plane landed, it is never going to be cool during the day. By noon the land was baking, and so am I, and no rain is forecast … Continue reading
Egypt turns a page?
It was really interesting coming back to Cairo on Saturday morning. Coming in from the airport in the very early morning, it was clear that the army had moved to key positions. I went out to do some shopping with … Continue reading
Kurdish Nowruz
Yesterday evening at 6 o’clock, the hills and mountains surrounding Erbil, and outside the Main Gate of the Citadel itself, went on fire. It is the eve of Nowruz when Kurds everywhere light bonfires and dance. Today the city is … Continue reading
Erbil souk
Nestling below the citadel with many entrances, the central souk or kayseri in Erbil betrays little of its old lineage except in the winding pattern of its covered lanes and wide meeting points. Judging from the dress of men and … Continue reading
Kurdistan – the other Iraq: day three
Today started with the simple need to search for carpets for the austere echoey office of tables and chairs marooned in a sea of floor. It turned out to be not so simple. Small shop units sell wide room size … Continue reading
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Tagged Erbil, Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan, Kurdistan, Sami Abdul Rahman Park
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Kurdistan – the other Iraq: Day two
Somewhat surprising this morning, the Kurdish bodyguard and driver greeted me in English with an excellent Portsmouth accent! His family had fled the violence in Kirkuk to the safety of the Kurdish enclave, but he and his brother went to … Continue reading
Libya 2011 is not Iraq 2003
Iraq 2003 is not the template of Libya 2011. Apart from both being headed by two remarkably nasty dictators, there is almost no similarity between the ‘liberation’ of Iraq and the current liberation of Libya. The defining difference is that … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Ghadafi, Iraq, Libya, NATO, NTC, Saddam Hussein, transition
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