Inside the Jihad: My Life with Al Qaeda

(Paperback)

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Between 1994 and 2000, Omar Nasiri worked as a secret agent for Europes top foreign intelligence services-including Frances DGSE (Direction Gnrale de la Scurit Extrieure), and Britains MI5 and MI6. From the netherworld of Islamist cells in Belgium, to the training camps of Afghanistan, to the radical mosques of London, he risked his life to defeat the emerging global network that the West would come to know as Al Qaeda. Now, for the first time, Nasiri shares the story of his life-a life balanced precariously between the world of Islamic jihadists and the spies who pursue them. As an Arab and a Muslim, he was able to infiltrate the rigidly controlled Afghan training camps, where he encountered men who would later be known as the most-wanted terrorists on earth: Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi, Abu Zubayda, and Abu Khabab al-Masri. Sent back to Europe with instructions to form a sleeper cell, Nasiri became a conduit for messages going back and forth between Al Qaedas top recruiter in Pakistan and Londons radical cleric Abu Qatada.

Reviews

"A chillingly detailed portrait of life inside the Afghan training camps... a unique insider's perspective into Al Qaeda's global jihad." Daily Telegraph "Inside the Jihad reads like a John le Carre novel. It is replete with tales of phony passports, envelopes stuffed with cash and cloak-and-dagger meetings...Mr. Nasiri's account of the camps is detailed and chilling." The New York Times"

Author Bio

Omar Nasiri (not his real name) was born in Morocco and currently resides in Germany with his wife.