Al-Zarqawi: The New Face of Al-Quaeda (French Edition) - Softcover

Brisard, Jean-Charles

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0745635725 ISBN 13: 9780745635729

Publisher: Polity Press, 2005

Synopsis

In recent months, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has emerged as the driving force behind the world's most feared terrorist organization, Al Qaeda. As Bin Laden's apparent successor, al-Zarqawi has been labelled 'public enemy number one' by the US government and the price on his head has risen to almost 25 million dollars.
Until now, little has been known about al-Zarqawi. Born in Jordan in 1968, he spent the 1980s in war-torn Afghanistan, followed by five years in prison before joining Al Qaeda in 1999. Having quickly gained the confidence of his superiors, al-Zarqawi ran Al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan, where he taught recruits to use chemical and biological weapons. From 2001 onwards, he controlled several regional terrorist groups across Europe, which have been linked to attacks in the UK, France, Russia and the notorious train bombing in Madrid. His armed group, Tawhid and Jihad, is currently terrorizing Iraq, beheading hostages and carrying out deadly attacks across the country.
In this, the first major study of al-Zarqawi, Jean-Charles Brisard takes an in-depth look at the man now widely regarded as the new face of Al Qaeda. Based on witness statements, official documents and previously unpublished material, Brisard offers a vivid and compelling account of Zarqawi's rise to power as the incarnation of international terrorism and Islamic extremism.

About this title

About the Author

Jean Charles Brisard is an independent terrorism expert

From Publishers Weekly

This hastily penned biography of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, known to Americans principally for his beheading of Nicholas Berg, is notable chiefly for its innocent failure to answer a fundamental question about terrorism: Why? Zarqawi's past is carefully described here, yet his background offers few clues. An undistinguished young daydreamer and petty criminal, Jordanian Zarqawi appears to have found his calling at a local mosque, where he became a practicing Muslim eager to participate in jihad against the Soviet Union. Zarqawi arrived in Khost too late for battle, but in time to befriend several radical Islamic theoreticians. Such connections eventually lead him to Al-Qaeda, but it wasn't until his cell's successful assassination of U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley that he was admitted to its inner circle. Although Brisard presents the facts of his rise to prominence, the narrative provides little insight into the motivating force behind Zarqawi's actions, leaving the reader, largely, with a simple timeline of events. Individuals and organizations are described and named, but their complexity and unfamiliarity make navigating various Islamic groups and their relationships the equivalent of reading a Russian novel without the requisite family tree. The clumsy translation from Brisard's native French provides an awkward read that often leans on hyperbole. These faults aside, the book provides a depth and history lacking in conventional news accounts.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Polity Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0745635725
• ISBN 13: 9780745635729
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 308