Al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network

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Why did so many of the September 11th hijackers spend time in Germany How did terrorist sleeper cells plant themselves in cities such as London, Paris, Rome, and Hamburg This is the first book to uncover the secret history of how Europe was systematically infiltrated by the ranks of the most dangerous terrorist organization on earth. Terrorist analyst Evan F. Kohlmann argues that the key to understanding Al-Qaida's European cells lies in the Bosnian war of the 1990s. Using the Bosnian war as their cover, Afghan-trained Islamic militants loyal to Usama Bin Laden convened in the Balkans in 1992 to establish a European domestic terrorist infrastructure in order to plot their violent strikes against the United States. As the West and the United Nations looked on with disapproval, the fanatic foreign mujahideen, or holy warriors, wreaked havoc across southern Europe, taking particular aim at UN peacekeepers and even openly fighting with Bosnian Muslims at times. Within a few months of the war's end, home-grown terrorist sleeper cells appeared on the streets of Europe's cities. Al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe unveils a new angle to the deadly international terrorist organization and includes recently declassified American and European intelligence reports, secret Al-Qaida records and internal documents, and interviews with notorious figures such as London-based Bin Laden sympathizer Abu Hamza Al-Masri.

Reviews

'Superbly researched, this book tells the story of al-Qaida's birth in 1980s Afghanistan, and the subsequent training of militant Islamists for transportation to Bosnia: ostensibly to fight alongside their fellow Muslims against the Serbs and then Croats but really, as Kohlmann shows, to establish a permanent base for subsequent terrorist operations against European targets. There is an especially interesting chapter on the Saudi-funded charities that channelled money for arms into the conflict, some financing the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.' The Guardian (http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/roundupstory/0,,1312063,00.html) Saturday September 25, 2004 'Written by a genuine expert in the subject - Kohlmann is an International Terrorism Consultant - this is a lucid and informed account of the involvement of the mujahedin in Bosnia, one that lays the myths to rest...This excellent book is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the truth about an episode of the Bosnian war that is so frequently misrepresented by those with a political motive for doing so.' The Henry Jackson Society Website (http://www-hjs.pet.cam.ac.uk/sections/balkans/document.2005-04-28.6595030101) 'The definitive account of a battle Al-Qaida lost, their attempt to add Bosnia and Kosovo to their Caliphate. Kohlmann's mastery of this phase in the war on terrorism is complete.' Richard Clarke, Former National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counterterrorism, US National Security Council (NSC), and author of 'Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror' 'Kohlmann's book is pathbreaking. Unlike other specialists, he examines both the Afghan and Balkan theaters. In his passion for high quality research, he places himself at high risk - he comes face-to-face with terrorist ideologues and operatives. It is a must-read to understand the contemporary wave of terrorism.' Rohan Gunaratna, Head of Terrorism Research, Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Singapore, and author of 'Inside Al Qaeda' 'A tectonic shift in the geopolitical world order is the steady transformation of Europe into a safehaven for militant Islam. How has it happened One crucial answer lies in a recent yet much overlooked chapter of history: the struggle of the Bosnian Muslims and the bridge their jihad helped build from what was the core of the 1980's Afghan mujahideen to what has exploded into the global Al Qaida network. Evan Kohlmann, one of the world's foremost counterterrorism experts, documents and explores that chapter with insight and depth. A valuable contribution.' Andrew C. McCarthy, counterterrorism expert and former federal prosecutor in the 1993 WTC bombing http://www-hjs.pet.cam.ac.uk/sections/balkans/document.2005-04-28.6595030101 Henry Jackson Society Website, review by Dr. Marko Hoare, History Faculty, University of Cambridge 'This book is a pathbreaking piece of research into two underexplored aspects of contemporary terrorism...Kohlmann's work is part of a newly emerging strand of scholarship that explores some of the hidden micro-histories of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The book is descriptive and empirically rich: the author's main accomplishment is to document the many terrorist incidents the Afghan-Bosnians perpetrated in wartime Bosnia, and post-war cases of terrorist activity rooted in their far-reaching network.' Michael A. Innes, review in Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, March 2005 'Written by a genuine expert in the subject...this is a lucid and informed account of the involvement of the mujahedin in Bosnia, one that lays the myths to rest...This excellent book is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the truth about an episode of the Bosnian war that is so frequently misrepresented by those with a political motive for doing so' Democratiya, review by Marko Attila Hoare, University of Cambridge and author of 'How Bosnia Armed' http://www.democratiya.com/details.aspid=1 'An illuminating book. Kohlmann is at his best in exhaustively reporting the details of ... terrorist episodes. He has compiled prodigious research about the perpetrators and their support networks. Moreover, he never loses sight of the strategy behind the individual attacks.' Political Science Quarterly 'This book is a pathbreaking piece of research into two underexplored aspects of contemporary terrorism.' Michael A. Innes, Sarajevo, SciTech Book News

Author Bio

Evan F. Kohlmann is an International Terrorism Consultant based in Washington, DC. He has served as an expert witness on Al-Qaida and Usama Bin Laden in post-9/11 federal terrorism trials held in the U.S. His articles have appeared in the New York Post, FoxNews.com, and the National Review, and he is frequently interviewed as a terrorist expert in the major media, including NBC, CNN, and Fox news programs.