Masterminds of Terror: The Truth Behind the Most Devasting Terrorist Attack the World Has Ever Seen

by Yosri Fouda and Nick Fielding

Book Overview

The capture of the masterminds of the September 11th attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh, grabbed headlines around the world. Both men were quickly trundled off to secret locations by... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1559707089
• ISBN13: 9781559707084
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

WOW A MUST READ FOR ANYONE WHO READS UP ABOUT 9/11

this book was great i have read everything i can get my hands on and this is one of the best. it has great facts and info

Read the appendices

This is a fine piece of journalism. There is more here than the "scoop" of Ramzi Binalshibh and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed taking credit for 9/11. There is a lot of fascinating stuff about ISI (Pakistani intelligence) playing both sides of the street. In particular, the book spells out the relationship between ISI and Omar Sheikh, who spilled the beans on ISI's funding of an al-Qaeda satellite group. This is the story Daniel Pearl was working on. The editor of Karachi's leading paper was forced to flee the country after he published Omar Sheikh's story. And, do not forget to read the second appendix - a statement by al Qaeda, dating from somewhere between mid-September 2001 and April 2002. A diatribe against the U.S. ends with an appeal to Allah: "We ask Him to chastise their state, make the earth quake under their feet, defeat them, and..." Though we have suffered devastating hurricanes (gleefully welcomed by Pat Robertson) and tornadoes roaring across Christian County, Kentucky, the earth really quaked under their feet in northern Pakistan. The Tsunami, of course, chastised the Islamic fundamentalists in Aceh. Perhaps God is trying to tell us he wants a secular world? After all, he sent Jesus to us with an appeal for a separation between Church and State. Remember, "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, render unto God that which is God's."

In reply to the 2nd posting

I have a copy of this book which I bought last year and I am not looking to sell. By sheer conincidence, a lecturer on my journalism course at University managed to lure Yosri Fouda to a speak at a guest lecture in England in December 2004. I was lucky enough to meet Fouda and have my copy signed by him. Sitting through that enthralling lecture, you would see that Fouda is an intelligent, unobjective individual. He was quick to emphasize keenly that night how much he loved America and how much his friends loved America too. I just wish to say, I personally have nothing against American citizens, just the president. In short, I would recommend Noam Chomsky's articles to you, and you will see the whole picture.

The most unbiased account of 9-11 you'll read

The information in this book comes straight from the lion's mouth. All the facts of the Al-qaida organization running up to 9-11: names, places, events, funding, coordination. It will open your eyes in many ways, from the simplicity of the organization at that time to which governments where paying for it (one which is currently conseidered an "ally"). This book should be the starting point for anyone interested in the truth behind 9-11.

A unique and fascinating addition to the books on Al Qaeda

Having read much of the literature in English pertaining to the nature and activities of Al Qaeda, I can say that this is one of the few books on the subject worth reading, not only because of the exclusive information available to its authors but also as a result of the unique perspective from which it is written. The book's primary author is Yosri Fouda, a journalist with the Arabic Al Jazeera TV network who was given a unique invitation in April 2002 to spend a weekend interviewing the two men who plotted the September 11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh. The two had decided that the time had come for them to take credit for what they had done in order to clear up any remaining doubts about their capabilities (the Western world being largely convinced of their responsibility by this point anyway), and in the hope of inspiring others in the Muslim world to follow their example.The book consists of two elements. The first is the story of how Fouda secretly arranged to meet with the two men in Pakistan, the meeting itself, and his subsequent struggles to acquire the recordings of his interviews, having been forced to leave them in the hands of Al Qaeda for several months to allow them to edit the tapes for security purposes. The second is the details about some of the lesser-known figures of Al Qaeda, including background on the two men Fouda interviewed, and others such as Omar Sheikh, who was responsible for the kidnapping and death of Daniel Pearl. There is also new information on the activities of the Sept. 11 hijackers in the years leading up to the attacks, and an interesting look at the complex connections between Al Qaeda and the Pakistani intelligence service. Most of this is based on many exclusive interviews conducted by Fouda himself. And of course there are the facts gleaned from Fouda's weekend with Binalshibh and Mohammed, in which the two men presented many of the operational details behind their preparations for the attacks. As appendices there are two translated documents issued by Al Qaeda itself which attempt to explain the reasoning they used to justify the attacks, both of which offer a unique insight into the beliefs of the group. But apart from the new factual information it presents, I also found the book interesting because it is the only book on Al Qaeda that I'm aware of that has been written by someone who is both an Arab and a Muslim. As such, Fouda has some interesting insights into his subjects. For instance, he discusses the differences between the form of Islam upheld by the members of Al Qaeda (which he describes as "almost heretical"), and the Islam practiced by ordinary Muslims. He discusses their obsession with the Islamic world as it existed in the time of the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him), and their view of themselves as virtual reincarnations of ancient Islamic warriors who are fighting to bring the modern Islamic world as a whole back to the conditions of the Seventh Century. Fo