Inside Al Qae'da - Softcover

Gunaratna, Rohan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1850656711 ISBN 13: 9781850656715

Publisher: Hurst & Company, London, 2002

Synopsis

In the era of terrorism, no foe as deadly as Al Qae'da - a multi-dimensional, multi-national group of great expertise and resourcefulness - has emerged to threaten and indeed harm the international community with such impunity. With a membership drawn from three-dozen Middle Eastern, Asian and other nationalities, and with cells established in some 60 countries, Al Qae'da has developed an unprecedented global reach, threatening national, regional and international security worldwide. "Inside Al Qae'da" examines the leadership, ideology, organization, strategies and tactics of one of the most ruthless and violent politico-religious organizations the world has ever seen, an unwanted by-product of the anti-Soviet multinational Afghan jihad. Gunaratna identifies three key phases in Al Qae'da's gestation, in Pakistan (1988-1992), in Sudan (1992-1996) and last, and most infamously, in Afghanistan (1996-to date, 2001). Al Qae'da finances and trains Islamist terrorists, but it also lends seasoned guerrilla fighters for terrorist and conventional military campaigns in Asia, Africa, the Caucasus and the Balkans. The author also discusses Al Qae'da's clandestine support and operational network in the West, focussing on the ways in which "sleeper" groups have infiltrated Britain, the United States and most European countries. The book is based on extensive interviews with Al Qae'da members; field research in conflicts where Al Qae'da is active; and monitoring of Al Qae'da infiltration of diaspora and migrant communities in Europe and North America. Dr Gunaratna has served as a consultant to several governments and corporations on terrorism, and immediately after the September 11 attacks, the US Congress invited him to testify on the Al Qae'da organization and counter-measures before the US Committee on National Security.

About this title

About the Author

Dr Rohan Gunaratna is Research Fellow, Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, University of St Andrews, Scotland. He also served as the Principal Investigator of the UN Terrorism Prevention Branch and as Co-Director of the UN Project on Managing Contemporary Insurgencies. Dr Gunaratna has spent fifteen years working on terrorism at the operational and policy levels, for the last eight of which he has researched on Al Qae'da in Central and South Asia. The author of six books on armed conflict, he wrote the background paper on Asia-Pacific Terrorism for the G8 Okinawa Summit and is a consultant to several governments and corporations on terrorism. Immediately after the September 11 attacks, the US Congress invited him to testify on the Al Qae'da organisation before the US Committee on National Security.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hurst & Company, London
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1850656711
• ISBN 13: 9781850656715
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272