"Traditions are not sacred," says Mrs. Abukhalid, a small, intense, 44-year-old woman wearing jeans and tennis shoes under her flowing black robes.

The Kuwaitis wore flowing white robes, the Croatians were led by a woman in an elegant folk costume, and the Americans wore, for the first time, a national uniform, of red, white and blue.

She alone came unarmored, but for her flowing red robes.

She looked to her hands again, and her flowing robes, and took comfort in the apparently perfect drow disguise.

The face rising up out of his dark and flowing robes was young; the fellow was not much older than Ivan and himself, Miles guessed.

Asked in Arabic where the weapon was, the woman reached under her flowing black robe, and pulled out a Kalashnikov rifle.

They all wear those great flowing robes.

He was fond of dressing in ornate and flowing robes and strutting all over his college campus.

Beside him walked a young woman dressed in a white and flowing robe that came down to her sandaled feet.

Blah was known as a quiet and unassuming man, driving his own jeep around town rather than using a motorcade and driver, and wearing flowing African robes instead of the normal olive green military uniform.