Read Online American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us by Steven Emerson - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Steven Emerson
Tags: Non-Fiction, Politics
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Afghanistan would serve as a basis to challenge those regimes. If the U.S.S.R. could be defeated, Azzam argued, so could the U.S.
Someone must have been disturbed by his message. In 1989, Azzam was murdered on his way to Friday mosque services, when his car exploded while winding through Islamabad’s narrow streets. Just who murdered Azzam remains a mystery to this day, but his teachings have lived on. His organization was morphed into Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda. But Azzam provided the spiritual cornerstone. I was excited by the prospect of meeting Azzam’s eldest surviving son, Hudaifa, only twenty years old when his father was killed.
At the time, the whole Arab world was perturbed by the return of “al-Afghan,”—guerrilla fighters from Afghanistan. They were no longer needed in the Hindu Kush Mountains. Now they were eager to put their practical experience to work in their own countries or anywhere else where they might be able to spread the jihad and their militant view of Islam. Some went to Kashmir, the disputed territory located on the northern frontier between Pakistan and India that is under Indian control, where a guerrilla war had been launched against New Delhi’s troops in 1989. In 1993, a few hundred “Afghans” made their way to Bosnia, much to the chagrin of the Bosnian government, which wanted the conflict to be seen as a European issue rather than an Islamic one. But staying in Afghanistan was not an option. In truth, few of the Arab mujahideen had displayed outstanding military skills. Instead they became known for their cruel treatment of prisoners and for tyrannizing the people in the “liberated areas.” (These habits have proved their undoing as allied forces have liberated Afghanistan from the Taliban. The Arab Afghans have become isolated and despised by all.)
A number of Arab governments held meetings to discuss this new threat. Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt felt most intimidated. In the 1920s Egypt had given birth to the Muslim Brotherhood. An offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Jihad, had assassinated President Anwar Sadat in 1981. The civil government was sick of fundamentalists. Algeria had a socialist regime that was equally unacceptable to the zealots. Algerian authorities outlawed the Front Islamique du Salut (Islamic Salvation Front or FIS) in 1992, after it was poised to win Parliamentary elections. Tunisia’s progressive democratic government, headed by president General Zinedine ben Ali, felt similarly threatened.
The other black-sheep nation was Pakistan. Many “Afghans” actually spent most of the war in Peshawar, the provincial capital, not far from the border, which became their unofficial headquarters. The local people had soon had enough of these immigrant “Muslim brothers” with their bossy manners—even though Arabs generally enjoy a special respect in this part of the world since they hail from the holy land of Islam and all are considered relatives of the Prophet. The Pakistani Islamist party, Jamaat e-Islami, adopted the Arab Afghans as allies at a time when they had few others. The fundamentalists had never had a very strong popular following, although their doctrine pervaded the Interservices Intelligence Directorate—the “ISI”—which is the real ruler of Pakistan. Now the Jamaat embraced their new “Arab brothers,” hoping to capitalize on their prestige.
When Abdullah Azzam was killed in 1989, his two oldest sons died with him. He left behind a large surviving family and a band of dedicated followers, most of whom worked with his “Mektab e-Khidemat Lil-Mujahideen,” or “Office of Services for the Mujahideen,” a small Arab outpost that published Al-Jihad, a monthly Arabic magazine. In the late 1980s and early 1990s that outpost was usurped by Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda organization, which had formed as an offshoot of Azzam’s Peshawar-based group.
Handsome in jeans and a leather jacket, Hudaifa looked more like a denizen of Madrid
Someone must have been disturbed by his message. In 1989, Azzam was murdered on his way to Friday mosque services, when his car exploded while winding through Islamabad’s narrow streets. Just who murdered Azzam remains a mystery to this day, but his teachings have lived on. His organization was morphed into Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda. But Azzam provided the spiritual cornerstone. I was excited by the prospect of meeting Azzam’s eldest surviving son, Hudaifa, only twenty years old when his father was killed.
At the time, the whole Arab world was perturbed by the return of “al-Afghan,”—guerrilla fighters from Afghanistan. They were no longer needed in the Hindu Kush Mountains. Now they were eager to put their practical experience to work in their own countries or anywhere else where they might be able to spread the jihad and their militant view of Islam. Some went to Kashmir, the disputed territory located on the northern frontier between Pakistan and India that is under Indian control, where a guerrilla war had been launched against New Delhi’s troops in 1989. In 1993, a few hundred “Afghans” made their way to Bosnia, much to the chagrin of the Bosnian government, which wanted the conflict to be seen as a European issue rather than an Islamic one. But staying in Afghanistan was not an option. In truth, few of the Arab mujahideen had displayed outstanding military skills. Instead they became known for their cruel treatment of prisoners and for tyrannizing the people in the “liberated areas.” (These habits have proved their undoing as allied forces have liberated Afghanistan from the Taliban. The Arab Afghans have become isolated and despised by all.)
A number of Arab governments held meetings to discuss this new threat. Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt felt most intimidated. In the 1920s Egypt had given birth to the Muslim Brotherhood. An offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Jihad, had assassinated President Anwar Sadat in 1981. The civil government was sick of fundamentalists. Algeria had a socialist regime that was equally unacceptable to the zealots. Algerian authorities outlawed the Front Islamique du Salut (Islamic Salvation Front or FIS) in 1992, after it was poised to win Parliamentary elections. Tunisia’s progressive democratic government, headed by president General Zinedine ben Ali, felt similarly threatened.
The other black-sheep nation was Pakistan. Many “Afghans” actually spent most of the war in Peshawar, the provincial capital, not far from the border, which became their unofficial headquarters. The local people had soon had enough of these immigrant “Muslim brothers” with their bossy manners—even though Arabs generally enjoy a special respect in this part of the world since they hail from the holy land of Islam and all are considered relatives of the Prophet. The Pakistani Islamist party, Jamaat e-Islami, adopted the Arab Afghans as allies at a time when they had few others. The fundamentalists had never had a very strong popular following, although their doctrine pervaded the Interservices Intelligence Directorate—the “ISI”—which is the real ruler of Pakistan. Now the Jamaat embraced their new “Arab brothers,” hoping to capitalize on their prestige.
When Abdullah Azzam was killed in 1989, his two oldest sons died with him. He left behind a large surviving family and a band of dedicated followers, most of whom worked with his “Mektab e-Khidemat Lil-Mujahideen,” or “Office of Services for the Mujahideen,” a small Arab outpost that published Al-Jihad, a monthly Arabic magazine. In the late 1980s and early 1990s that outpost was usurped by Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda organization, which had formed as an offshoot of Azzam’s Peshawar-based group.
Handsome in jeans and a leather jacket, Hudaifa looked more like a denizen of Madrid
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