THE PRISM

This is a futuristic novel where Jaziirat al Gharb is an autonomous region according to the Evian Agreement signed in Paris, administered, in theory, by the Nation of France under the tutelage of the European Federation. John Ennis was filled with curiosity; it was his first visit to Algharb, as it was generally known. Travel restrictions to the young country for foreign journalists, and in particular Americans, had only been recently lifted . As the plane descended on its approach to the airport he could see the sprawling city of Medina Hurriya lying beneath a fine brown haze of pollution. The city centre with its buildings and monuments, built in the characteristic rose coloured stone of the region, stood out against the parched hills that formed its northern boundary, to the west he could make out the endless shantytowns that stretched beyond the city suburbs, almost as far as he could see in the pall of low-level haze.