"And Then Mullah Omar Shouted"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with former head of Saudi Arabia's intelligence service, Prince Turki Ibn al-Feisal, about the kingdom's role in the fight against terrorism, the financing of militant Islamists and his dramatic meeting with terrorist boss Osama bin Laden and the Taliban leader Mullah Omar:

"We view ourselves as the guardians of the holiest towns of Islam, and thus as being in the service of Muslims all over the world. For that reason alone, we cannot afford to be the centre of terrorist activities. ... The Saudi government didn't give Osama bin Laden and the mujahedin any money. It helped them morally. Bin Laden probably became so popular because he invested a large part of his own fortune in the fight."

"Blueprint for a Civil War"

Iraq: The Americans have put ten million dollars on Abu Musab al-Sarkawi's head. Is he the man behind the plan to incite Sunnites and Shiites against one another?

"God Be with You"

The provincial election stage on the south-eastern fringes of the Novgorod region is astonishingly similar to the picture presented by central Moscow: no pre-election fever, no differences in opinion. The supreme ruler, Vladimir Putin, faces a terrible prospect: a unanimous yea.

"Dangerous Victory"

SPIEGEL cover story: After the choice of a candidate for the office of President of the Federal Republic of Germany, the outlines of what reforms a government by the affiliated Christian Democrats and Christian Socialists would plan are becoming clear. Horst Köhler as head of state and Angela Merkel as Chancellor would want to implement far-reaching changes in the country. Many members of the two parties, however, are just waiting to catch Köhler out in his first false moves. Roland Koch, premier of the state of Hesse, and Edmund Stoiber, premier of Bavaria, are out for revenge for the rejection of the candidate they had suggested.

"The Martial Artist"

Memoirs: Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl presented the first volume of his memoirs to journalists last week. One had hoped that the eternal contemporary Kohl - after his formidable advance bluster - might present a bit more than the dull report of a man who had been the head of practically everything, of the parliamentary party, the party itself, the steering committee and the government. One suspected, when Helmut Kohl first arrived in Bonn, that it had not been easy to be always the youngest and the first. But who could have imagined how often Helmut Kohl was the only one to see what was really going on; how bravely he always defended his views against all others; how unselfishly he helped others to gain power; but, above all, how it was always others, in particular Johannes Rau and Willy Brandt, who stoked a "naked hatred" of Kohl until he himself also landed "on the far side of demagoguery"?

"Issuing Directives like the Lord of the Manor"

Corporate groups: The American judiciary has got its sights on mail-order tycoon Michael Otto. The entrepreneur is believed to have covered up the problems of his insolvent US subsidiary for far too long. The mail-order group Spiegel Inc. last published its quarterly stock exchange notice, as required by the law, in November 2001, then it was silent for 15 months. It was not until February 2003 that figures became available again - but by then it was too late. Four weeks later, Spiegel Inc. applied for the commencement of bankruptcy proceedings. The Otto manager calculated that publishing the warning issued by the accountancy firm KPMG would have aggravated the situation further and frightened away suppliers.

"An Act of Patriotism"

Justice: Jesselyn Radack was a promising young lawyer in Washington's Department of Justice. Then September 11 occurred and she lost both her job and her reputation - because she had dared to challenge the Bush administration's politics.

"Consolidation of the War"

Computer games: A new on-line service is selling war games with real scenes from Iraq. The Pentagon is supporting the "Militainment" business. "Kuma: War" takes war entertainment to a new level. Rarely before has a PC game portrayed events so soon afterwards. In most cases, developers need at least two years to launch complex games.

"Che Guevara in the Land of Mist"

Archaeology: A large museum celebrates Kalkriese, near Osnabrück, as the true site of the battle against Varus. Now archaeologists are calling this into question. Recently discovered mass graves and wooden barracks prove that the bloodbath was just the beginning of a guerrilla war that lasted many years. 50,000 Roman soldiers lost their lives in it.

"A Rover and a Soldier"

Cars: Aston Martin and Bentley are once again manufacturing proper sports cars, as the subsidiaries of major groups. The English companies are now headed by two enigmatic former top managers from Germany. The story of exotic makes of cars is almost always one of economic decline; and almost always there is some major corporation which swallows up the gem just before its demise and then invests heavily in it. With Bentley, the purchase price, current losses and investments now add up to two billion euros. The highest operative profit you can hope to make on a car is 20,000 euros. Bentley would therefore have to sell well over 100,000 cars just to make up for the cost so far, including lost interest. This year's target is to sell about 5000 cars. It doesn't take an economic genius to realise that in buying Bentley, Volkswagen has bitten off more than it can chew.