\paperw4260 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 \fs24 At dusk, from the top of the minaret, the ômuezzinö calls the Muslim faithful to the fourth prayer of the day.\par
It is a mome
nt of great peace. When the sun sets to the west of Arabia, the lands of North Africa, from Morocco to Libya, are known as the Maghreb, the ôLands of the Sunset.ö\par
It is a land of strong contrasts, at once hospitable and treacherous, submerged by th
e immense dunes of the Sahara, yet abounding in fertile valleys, studded with cities and oases, and cut in two by the barrier of the Atlas Mountains.\par
It has been a place of encounter and conflict between nomadic and settled civilization, between the
