Mahfouz Is Dead, Times Are Hard

Mahfouz, the great Arab novelist, pictured here, has died, but not before seeing a different kind of result from that of the Arab-Israel war of 1967, which plunged him into relative silence for five years.

Meanwhile, cluster bombs continue to kill innocent people in Beirut - even as Iran defies the West over its desire to possess nuclear power.

But, Chavez's new friendship with Syria may be a step too far.

A fraught week, indeed, in the Middle East.

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1988/mahfouz-bio.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/syria/story/0,,1861607,00.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/syria/story/0,,1861571,00.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,1861804,00.html

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