30 JULY 2005, Page 20

Currant affairs

From Philip Roe Sir: In your thoughtful piece ‘Just don’t call it war’ (16 July) you ask whether suicide bombers can expect virgins or raisins in the afterlife. When Islam was important, emissaries were sent all over Europe to kidnap women for the harem in Istanbul, where they were forced to devote their lives to gratifying the Sultan’s every whim. These unfortunate ladies were called sultanas.

Philip Roe

St Albans, Hertfordshire