From the archive: Escape from Kuwait

This story is part of the FT Weekend Magazine’s Archives Issue.

I never thought I would be so glad to see the Saudi Arabian flag. After several hours in the blistering heat and sandy winds of the Kuwaiti desert, I and my companions could hardly believe that we had reached the frontier and escaped our uncertain fate in Iraqi-occupied Kuwait.

We feared that the flag we saw fluttering in the breeze would be Iraqi, but as we approached the border post we could see that it was Islamic green, emblazoned with the Saudi sword and the words:…