It’s thirty years now since I first went to Saudi Arabia

Beneath the shrouds were dozens of firearms: pistols, rifles, Kalashnikovs, and magazines of ammunition. Fajr, the pre-dawn prayer, would be called at 05.18 am – it is timed at the moment when a black thread can first be distinguished from a white one in the palm of the hand – and the ‘mourners’ aroused no special interest as they filed ... ................
................