- Publisher: Arabian
- Year: 2021
- Format: Hardback
- Pages: 236pp
- Illustrated: Yes
- Dimensions: 240x160mm
- Condition: New
- Weight: 0.5kg
- ISBN: 9780992980887
- Product code: 537494
The Afghanistan File
New Hardback Illustrated
Postscript summary
The former head of Saudi Arabian Intelligence offers an authoritative account of his country’s relationship with Afghanistan. Drawing on declassified documents he describes his department’s involvement with the Mujahideen, Taliban and Al Qaeda, and traces many modern problems in the West and his country to the Soviet occupation and Osama bin Laden’s belief that he had personally helped to beat them.
Product information
Full publisher description
The Afghanistan File, written by the former head of Saudi Arabian Intelligence, tells the story of his Department's involvement in Afghanistan from the time of the Soviet invasion in 1979 to Nine Eleven 2001. It begins with the backing given by Saudi Arabia to the Mujahideen in their fight against the Soviet occupation, and moves on to the fruitless initiatives to broker peace among the Mujahideen factions after the Soviet withdrawal, the rise to power of the Taleban and the shelter the Taleban gave to Osama Bin Laden.
A theme that runs through the book is the extraordinary difficulties Saudi Arabia and its allies had in dealing with the Mujahideen. Prince Turki found them magnificently brave, but exasperating. On one occasion in trying to arrange peace among them, he got permission from the King to open the Kaaba in Mecca, and had the leaders go inside, where they were overcome with emotion and swore never to fight each other again . A few hours later on their way to Medina they almost came to blows on the bus.
Turki's account gives details of the Saudi attempts in the 1990s to bring its volunteers out of Afghanistan - with chequered success - and his negotiations with the Taleban for the surrender of Osama Bin Laden. The book includes a number of declassified Intelligence Department documents.
Prince Turki explains that the nihilistic, apparently pointless terrorism that has been seen in the Middle East in the last twenty years had its origins in Afghanistan with Osama's deluded belief that he had helped defeat the Russians. There is no evidence that he ever fought them at all. Soon after Nine Eleven Saudi Arabia discovered that it had a home grown terrorist problem involving some of the returnees from Afghanistan. Much of the huge change that has taken place in the Kingdom since has stemmed from the campaign to tackle this.
A theme that runs through the book is the extraordinary difficulties Saudi Arabia and its allies had in dealing with the Mujahideen. Prince Turki found them magnificently brave, but exasperating. On one occasion in trying to arrange peace among them, he got permission from the King to open the Kaaba in Mecca, and had the leaders go inside, where they were overcome with emotion and swore never to fight each other again . A few hours later on their way to Medina they almost came to blows on the bus.
Turki's account gives details of the Saudi attempts in the 1990s to bring its volunteers out of Afghanistan - with chequered success - and his negotiations with the Taleban for the surrender of Osama Bin Laden. The book includes a number of declassified Intelligence Department documents.
Prince Turki explains that the nihilistic, apparently pointless terrorism that has been seen in the Middle East in the last twenty years had its origins in Afghanistan with Osama's deluded belief that he had helped defeat the Russians. There is no evidence that he ever fought them at all. Soon after Nine Eleven Saudi Arabia discovered that it had a home grown terrorist problem involving some of the returnees from Afghanistan. Much of the huge change that has taken place in the Kingdom since has stemmed from the campaign to tackle this.
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The Afghanistan File
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The former head of Saudi Arabian Intelligence offers an authoritative account of his country’s relationship with Afghanistan. Drawing on declassified documents he describes his department’s involvement with the Mujahideen, Taliban and Al Qaeda, and traces many modern problems in the West and his country to the Soviet occupation and Osama bin Laden’s belief that he had personally helped to beat them.
Hardback
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Prince Turki AlFaisal Al Saud
General
240x160mm
Arabian
No
Hardback
Middle Eastern
