Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #733807 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Author of Inside Al Qaeda, Mohamed Sifaoui is an Algerian-born journalist who by fluke in the spring of 1996 survived a bomb attack in Algiers that killed his friends and colleagues--as well as 30 passers by. Since then, Sifaoui has worked against the terrorist ideology of extremist Islamism wherever the opportunity presented itself.

One highly unusual and dangerous opportunity came in the autumn of 2002. While covering a terrorist trial Sifaoui made the acquaintance of an active member of an Al Qaeda cell in Paris and, by passing himself off as a pro-fundamentalist journalist, managed to gain his trust. Eventually Sifaoui was invited to London to be entrusted with a position of real responsibility playing a coordinating role between the different terrorist cells in Europe and it is here that his undercover investigations and the book comes to an end.

This very short book is the diary of the three months he spent undercover from October 2002 to January 2003. There's no doubt that during this time the author was putting his life on the line and--given that he recently wrote an anti-fundamentalist book with his face plastered over the back cover--it is his ingenuity and audacity that provides the real hook. This is a detective story where nothing much happens, but the depiction of the everyday activities of these people--daily prayers, endless talk of jihad, religion, fundamentalist ideology, collecting money for prisoner support, the deep yearning for martyrdom and the unwavering solidarity of the "brotherhood" that creates a lasting impression. --Larry Brown

Synopsis
In October 2002 Mohamed Sifaoui met a contemporary from his school days in Algeria quite by chance. Since the 80s, Sifaoui had become a journalist and committed opponent of Islamic fundamentalism. His former classmate, Karim Bourti, had joined an active al-Qaeda cell in Paris. Improvising on the spot, the journalist set about convincing Bourti that he too was a follower of Bin Laden and could help with propoganda. The astonishing result of his subterfuge was that he slowly gained the complete confidence of the cell and spent three months inside the organization. The ultimate sign that he had gained the trust of his new associates was an invitation to visit London, the nerve centre of al-Qaeda in Europe. Mohamed Sifaoui's book is the diary of his time under cover, much of it at great personal risk, since he used a false address and frequently carried a hidden camera. Here, for the first time, we can eavesdrop on members of al-Qaeda speaking with shocking frankness about how they raise funds, select "legitimate targets" and plan their operations.

Customer Reviews

A real insider's look
This book, written by a very courageous French-Algerian journalist who experienced firsthand a bomb attack in Algiers which killed many of his colleagues in a press office, is suffused by the author's passionate understanding. Covering the 2002 trial of the Islamist terrorists who had bombed the Paris metro in 1995, Sifaoui comes across Islamist Karim Bourti, whom he used to go to school with in Algiers, but who only remembers his face, not his name. In that instant, Sifaoui decides to pretend that he is an Islamist sympathiser, and he forges a dangerous relationship with Bourti which will bring him into the heart of at least one terrorist cell in Paris. Over the three months he posed as a follower of jihad, Sifaoui had many conversations with Bourti and his associates, and was told many things which fly right against the political cant and blindness which characterises much of official France's response to the threat of Islamism. This is an extraordinary record of bravery, steadfastness, and a warning to all those who try to stick their heads in the sand.

Ground level Al Qaeda activities
There is much availble to the informed reader concerning al Qaeda at the tactical and strategic level of their activity. This book, a rare read, addresses activities below this. Though sometimes mundane in its detail I persevered and was the better for it.

The mechanisms deployed and hatred of the 'infidels' from fellow citizens is laid bare, unsettling to read. For example, the way funds allegedly are raised on occasion from 'non-believers'. Ostensibly for Islamic relief the donations are channeled (by the cell in question) he cites to imprisoned al Qaeda members, in French gaols.

If a reader has even a casual interest in terrorsim or counter terrorsim, this will make a refreshing read. I wholly concur with the writer when asserting it is important to distinguish between Islamists who terrorise tracts of Algeria presently for example and the peaceful men and women of faith are muslim. An insightful read rendered by a brave man.