SAUDI ARABIA: Reunion in Riyadh

A quarter of a century ago, Ibn Saud's warriors thundered westward out of the central Arabian desert, sacked the town of Taif and marauded through the Hejaz. Relentlessly, Ibn Saud's men drove Sherif Hussein, ruler of the kingdom, out of the Hejaz, and the holy city of Mecca. Hussein, a haughty old man who was head of the Hashemite clan, went into bitter exile in Cyprus. He filled his two sons, who were to become King Abdullah of Jordan and King Feisal I of Iraq, with hatred of the usurper. Abdullah's son Talal, then 13, heard his grandfather's promises...

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