Path of Blood : The Story of Al Qaeda's War on the House of Saud

Path of Blood tells the gripping and horrifying true story of the underground army which Osama Bin Laden created in order to attack his number one target: his home country, Saudi Arabia. His aim was to conquer the land of the Two Holy Mosques, the land from where Islam had first originated, and, from there, to reestablish an Islamic Empire that could take on the West and win. Thomas Small and Jonathan Hacker use new insider evidence to expose the real story behind the Al Qaeda. Far from the image of single-minded holy warriors they present to the world, the bands of sol­diers are riven by infighting and lack of discipline. Drawing on unprecedented access to Saudi govern­ment archives, interviews with top intelligence of­ficials both in the Middle East and in the West, as well as with captured Al Qaeda militants, and access to exclusive captured video footage from Al Qaeda cells, Path of Blood tells the full story of the terrorist campaign and the desperate and deter­mined attempt by Saudi Arabia’s internal security services to put a stop to it. "Path of Blood tells the gripping and horrifying true story of the underground army which Osama Bin Laden created in order to attack his number one target: his home country, Saudi Arabia. His aim was to conquer the land of the Two Holy Mosques, the land from where Islam had first originated and, from there, to re-establish a Muslim Empire that could take on the West and win. With the West unpopular with many Saudis at the time of the Iraq and Afghan wars, the Al Qaeda leadership lured impressionable recruits to the organisation with a mix of religious and political rhetoric as well as the promise of glory and heavenly riches. Many joined, and a murderous and highly visible campaign of kidnapping, shootings and bombings was launched across the country. Jonathan Small and Thomas Hacker use new insider evidence to expose the real story behind the Al Qaeda. Far from the image of single-minded holy warriors they presented to the world, the bands of soldiers are shown to be riven by infighting and lack of discipline. Yet the threat they posed was unquestionable. Ill-disciplined or not, these were men who killed with impunity, and who tried to acquire a nuclear bomb. Drawing on unprecedented access to Saudi government archives, interviews with top intelligence officials both in the Middle East and in the West, as well as with captured Al Qaeda militants, and with access to exclusive captured video footage from Al Qaeda cells, Path of Blood tells the full story of the terrorist campaign and the desperate and determined attempt by Saudi Arabia's internal security services to put a stop to it."--Publisher description Path of Blood tells the gripping and horrifying true story of the underground army which Osama Bin Laden created in order to attack his number one target: his home country, Saudi Publishing in paperback to coincide with the documentary film release, Path of Blood tells the horrifying true story of the underground army which Osama Bin Laden created in order to attack his number one target: his home country, Saudi Arabia. His aim was to conquer the land of the Two Holy Mosques, the birthplace of Islam and, from there, to re-establish a Muslim Empire that could take on the West and win. Thomas Small and Jonathan Hacker use new insider evidence to expose the real story behind the Al Qaeda. Far from the image of single-minded holy warriors they presented to the world, the bands of soldiers are shown to be riven by infighting and lack of discipline. Yet the threat they posed was unquestionable. Ill-disciplined or not, these were men who killed with impunity, and who tried to acquire a nuclear bomb. Drawing on unprecedented access to Saudi government archives, interviews with top intelligence officials in the Middle East and in the West, as well as with captured Al Qaeda militants, and with access to exclusive captured video footage from Al Qaeda cells, Path of Blood tells the full story of the terrorist campaign and the desperate attempt by Saudi Arabia's internal security services to put a stop to it. Half-title page 2 Title page 3 Copyright page 4 Contents 5 List of Illustrations 7 Dedication page 9 Introduction 10 Dramatis Personae 16 Map 1 Saudi Arabia 24 Map 2 Riyadh 25 Prologue: The Head in the Freezer 28 1 Blood Moon Rising 36 2 Facing Facts 59 3 The Riyadh Compounds 82 4 A Bloody Success 97 5 The Prince’s Crackdown 114 6 Salvaging a Friendship 130 7 A Ruthless New Leader 143 8 The List of Twenty-Six 165 9 Operation Volcano 179 10 Terror Strikes the Coasts 196 11 The Khobar Massacre 212 12 The Assassination Cell 225 13 The Network Splits 249 14 Stamped Out 268 Epilogue: A New Kind of Assassin 293 Glossary 307 Timeline 315 Acknowledgements 323 Notes 324 Index 354 Plates 380 __Path of Blood____Path of Blood__