Synopses & Reviews
Between 1994 and 2000, Omar Nasiri worked as a secret agent for Europe's top foreign intelligence services including France's DGSE (Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure), and Britain's 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 Qaeda's top recruiter in Pakistan and London's radical cleric Abu Qatada. A gripping and provocative insider's account of both Islamist terror networks and the intelligence services that spy on them, Inside the Jihad offers a completely original perspective on the ongoing battle against Al Qaeda.
Review
"Inside the Jihad is the astonishing, well-told story of Omar Nasiri (a pseudonym), who....was able to gather a wealth of knowledge about the terrorist training going on in Afghanistan." Peter L. Bergen, The Washington Post
Review
"A chillingly detailed portrait of life inside the Afghan training camps. Omar Nasiri's memoir offers a unique insider's perspective on the crucial years during which a loosely connected group of regional Islamist movements coalesced into Al Qaeda's global jihad." Ahmed Rashid, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Taliban
Review
"A terrific book. Omar Nasiri offers a groundbreaking account of the process by which young men became mujahidin. His description of life inside the Afghan training camps is more complete than any intelligence we had available to us in the 1990s....Nasiri's account has, I believe, no peer in the publications of the American intelligence community." Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA's Osama bin Laden Unit and author of Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror
Synopsis
A gripping and provocative insider's account of both Islamist terror networks and the intelligence services that spy on them,
Inside the Jihad offers a completely original perspective on the ongoing battle against Al Qaeda.
From the netherworld of Islamist cells in Belgium, to the training camps of Afghanistan, to the radical mosques of London, Omar Nasiri risked his life to defeat the emerging global network that the West would come to know as Al Qaeda...
Synopsis
A Moroccan operative for British and French intelligence describes his time undercover inside the fundamentalist group Al Qaeda, from Islamist cells in Belgium to the training camps of Afghanistan and radical mosques in London.
Synopsis
A gripping account of life inside Al Qaeda traces the rise of the terrorist organization from an insider's perspective, documenting his role as a double agent working for the UK and French intelligence to infiltrate the group's training camps, detailing his own illegal activities with Al Qaeda, and profiling the top terrorist leaders, including Osama bin Laden. 60,000 first printing.
Synopsis
For the first time, a first person account of life inside the jihad
About the Author
Omar Nasiri (not his real name) was born in Morocco and currently resides in Germany with his wife.