To do that we'll have to enter a state of Ihram - which has strict codes on what to do, how to dress and how to behave.

BBC: Aerial view of Great Mosque at Mecca - file 2006

It takes the wisdom of fifty-some years in the same skin to know how to dress it, she says, how to take care of it, but most of all, how to be comfortable in it.

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Gen Petraeus has views which are no less clear-cut than Gen McChrystal's, but he knows how to dress them up diplomatically.

BBC: McChrystal row reflects Washington nerves