Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban

Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11

Syed Saleem Shahzad

President Obama may have delivered on his campaign promise to kill Osama bin Laden, but as an Al-Qaeda strategist bin Laden has been dead for years. This book introduces and examines the new generation of Al-Qaeda leaders who have been behind the most recent attacks.

Investigative journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad dedicated his life to revealing the strategies and inner workings of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. He had access to top-level commanders in both movements, as well as within the ISI, Pakistan’s intelligence service. Shahzad’s work was praised by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for ‘bringing to light the troubles extremism poses to Pakistan’s stability’. Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban explains the wider aims of both organisations and provides an essential analysis of major terrorist incidents, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

In May 2011, Shahzad was abducted and killed in Pakistan, days after writing an article suggesting that insiders in the Pakistani navy had colluded with Al-Qaeda in an attack on a naval air station. This book is a testament to his fearless reporting and analytical rigour. It will provide readers worldwide with an invaluable introduction to a new phase of the ongoing struggle against terrorism which threatens lives in so many countries.

Contents

Preface
Prologue
1. A New World: Destruction, Migration, Friends and Foes
2. The Politics of War and Peace
3. First Step: Leadership Building and Transformation of ‘Son of the Soils’ to ‘Blood Brothers’.
4. Takfeer and Khuruj: An Ideological Thesis for the Separation of Islamists and States
5. Antithesis: Debate for the Legitimacy of the Resistance
6. The Synthesis
7. Building the Eagles’ Nest
8. The War Theatre
Epilogue
Notes
Index

About the Author

Syed Saleem Shahzad (1970-2011) was an investigative reporter who worked as Pakistan Bureau Chief at Asia Times Online. His persistence, courage and reputation allowed him unparalleled access to leaders and fighters in Islamic movements enabling him to secure interviews with figures such as Al-Qaeda commander, Ilyas Kashmiri. He had been both a hostage and a guest of the Taliban, which gave him a unique insight into the organisation’s internal structures. He was abducted and killed in Pakistan in May 2011. He left a wife and three children.