Not only is it usual to see an increase of violence during Ramadan but this time the beginning ofthe Muslim holy month coincided with the alleged discoveryofaplot that has sent an unusually pronounced shudder through Baghdad's political classes.
The warning to US diplomats also comes only days after the UK Foreign Office renewed its warning to avoid non-essential travel to the kingdom following thediscoveryofa terror plot.
The piece was commissioned by the city of Lisbon to commemorate 500 years of Portuguese discovery, and has a loose plot, more or less following the voyages of Vasco da Gama to Africa and India.