The Looming Tower - Lawrence Wright [260]
Issam Eldin al-Turabi was a very entertaining and enlightening host during my several trips to Sudan. I’m also grateful to Mohammed Loay Baizid for entrusting me with his recollections, and to Hassabulla Omer for candidly discussing the dilemma bin Laden posed to Sudanese intelligence.
Georg Mascolo and his investigative team at Der Spiegel did first-rate work uncovering the secret life of the Hamburg cell. Georg lent me one of his finest reporters, Cordula Meyer, to be my guide during my time in Hamburg, and I depended on her insights for my portrait of the hijackers in Germany. I am also grateful to Dr. Guido Steinberg in Berlin, the former head of counterterrorism for the chancellor’s office, whose expertise on terrorism helped shape my understanding. In Spain, I was assisted by Rocio Millán Johnson, an enterprising reporter and a wonderful spirit. I am also grateful to Emilio Lamo de Espinosa and Haizam Amirah Fernández of the Real Instituto Elcano. Gustavo de Aristegui was a challenging intellectual companion during my time in Madrid. Juan Cotino, Enrique García, Emiliano Burdiel Pascual, and Teodoro Gómez Domínguez of the national police were extremely accommodating. I also want to acknowledge my colleagues: Fernando Lázaro at El Mundo, José María Irujo at El País, Ramón Pérez Maura at ABC, and especially Keith Johnson at the Wall Street Journal, each of whom generously helped me with sources and information.
The first time I went to interview Gilles Kepel, professor of Middle East Studies at the Institute for Political Studies in Paris, he asked me to teach his class instead. It turned out to be the best introduction to a man whose groundbreaking work on Islamism in Egypt has shaped the scholarship of this movement. His students are a powerful and enduring reflection of his influence. I am also very much indebted to the hospitality of my former editor at The New Yorker, Lee Aitken, and to my friends Christopher and Carol Dickey, who made my trips to Paris so much more enjoyable than they would have been without their delightful company. Olivier Roy, a profound scholar, was kind enough to share his thoughts with me on several occasions; and the courageous counterterrorism judge Jean-Louis Bruguière gave me the benefit of his unique understanding of al-Qaeda.
London is a special stop for any reporter interested in Islamism and jihad. Some of my best sources have been granted political asylum, and they willingly talked to me despite the threat that their status might be changed at any time. I’m particularly thankful to Yassir el-Sirri, Usama Rushdi, and Hani el-Siba‘iy. Abdullah Anas and Kemal Helbawi were great friends to me during my visits and made important contributions to my understanding of the Arab Afghan experience. Alan Fry of Scotland Yard shared the British counterterrorist perspective with me. Yosri Fouda, the star reporter for al-Jazeera, was a welcome companion on several very memorable evenings. Abdul Rahman al-Rashid, the former editor of Al-Sharq al-Awsat, was a generous informant, and his successor in that chair, Tariq al-Homayed, has been a kindred spirit since we first met in Jeddah. I want to pay especial tribute to Mohammed el-Shafey, a great reporter who has covered terrorism and radical Islam for years at Al-Sharq al-Awsat. Many thanks to him for his kindness.
I owe a particular debt to Richard A. Clarke, who was a very patient tutor in the ways of Washington. At the FBI,