A renowned Middle Eastern bookstore in the UK will close its doors for good at the end of this year. Al Saqi Books, the largest Middle Eastern specialist bookseller in Europe, will shut up shop permanently on 31 December after over four decades, according to an email sent on Monday by its publishing arm. The shop, located in London, was founded in 1978 by three friends who had moved to the UK from Lebanon. André and Salwa Gaspard and Mai Ghoussoub, who has since passed away, wished to “recreate the heady intellectual climate of Beirut” that existed before Lebanon descended into civil war. Book…