The Mother of Mohammed
Page 38
Page 172, convicted of supplying the explosives: Amnesty International, ‘Al-Qaeda in Southeast Asia’.
Page 174, girls are considered mature enough: Geraldine Brooks, Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women, Penguin, London, 2007, p. 31.
Page 176, they had fled: Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, statement to Indonesian police, January 2003, obtained by the author in Indonesia.
9 Muhajirin
Page 180, ‘I had to accommodate her’: Author interview with Abdul Qudus, 10 December 2008.
Page 180, ‘very outspoken’: Author interviews with Amaluddin and Forlina Siregar, 1 August 2008.
Page 183, he was, by several accounts, amiable and well-liked: Author interviews with Jack Roche, Ibrahim Fraser, Umar Abdullah and Peter Wenn, 2003 and 2004.
Page 183, ‘concerned and compassionate’: Author interview with Luqman Landy (by email), December 2008.
Page 188, ‘the cheapest house’: Author interview with Nadia Aboufadil, August 2008.
Page 190, ‘They loved her down there’: Author interview with Nadia Aboufadil and additional written material provided by her. I have also relied on Cameron Stewart, ‘Persons of Influence’, Weekend Australian, 11–12 November 2006.
Page 194, ‘Will you be my co-wife?’: Nadia Aboufadil.
Page 194, Sungkar and Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, still living in exile: Sally Neighbour, In the Shadow of Swords, Harper Collins, Sydney, 2004.
Page 198, She showed her friend Nadia: Nadia Aboufadil.
Page 198, arrived in Melbourne in April 1990: Immigration records show Ba’asyir’s first arrival in Australia was on 12 April 1990. There is no record of Sungkar arriving on that day, but there are numerous accounts of his presence with Ba’asyir. See Neighbour.
Page 200, known as Abdul Halim and as Abdus Samad Abud: Australian immigration department records obtained by author.
Page 201, ‘a very peaceful man’: Cameron Stewart and Colleen Egan, ‘A Word from the Wise’, Weekend Australian, 18–19 October 2003.
Page 201, military training in Pakistan: Author interview with Mohammed Nasir bin Abas, former leader of JI’s Mantiqi 3, Jakarta, July 2008; Sidney Jones, ‘Jemaah Islamiyah in South East Asia: Damaged but Still Dangerous’, International Crisis Group, 26 August 2003.
Page 206, ‘The myth of the superpower’: Osama bin Laden, CNN interview, Afghanistan, 1997,
Page 206, Aisha and Hassan: I have changed their names at Rabiah’s request as she is concerned they will be targeted by counter-terrorism agencies if they are identified.
10 Joining the Jihad
Page 211, The tribal town of Peshawar: For descriptions of Peshawar, I have drawn on: Christina Lamb, Waiting for Allah, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1991; Peter L Bergen, Holy War Inc: Inside the Secret World of Osama Bin Laden, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2001; Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda’s Road to 9/11, Penguin, London, 2006.
Page 211, treasures looted: Wright.
Page 211, ‘Hotel guests are asked’: Bergen.
Page 211, Throughout the 1980s: For the history of the war in Afghanistan and the role of the ‘Afghan-Arabs’, I have drawn on: Lamb, Bergen, Wright; Steve Coll, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001, Penguin, London, 2004; Steve Coll, The Bin Ladens: The Story of a Family and Its Fortune, Allen Lane, London, 2008; Olivier Roy, Islam and Resistance in Afghanistan, Cambridge University Press, 1986; Barnett R Rubin, ‘Arab Islamists in Afghanistan’, in John L Esposito (ed.), Political Islam: Revolution, Radicalism or Reform?, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder, CO, 1997; Ahmed Rashid, Taliban, Yale University Press, 2001.
Page 212, They were known as the ‘Afghan-Arabs’: Some authors have referred to them as ‘Arab-Afghans’. Rabiah says ‘Afghan-Arabs’ is the term that was used when she was there.
Page 212, ‘the brigade of strangers’: Wright, p. 105.
Page 212, ‘Peshawar was transformed’: Wright, p. 121.
Page 213, MAK had been founded … Abdullah Azzam: Wright; Jason Burke, Al Qaeda, Penguin, London, 2003; Coll, Ghost Wars; Bergen.
Page 213, new suburb of Hayatabad … where MAK had a guesthouse: Burke.
Page 214, Abdul Rahman Ayub: Author interview with Nasir Abas.
Page 214, first training camp set up for foreign volunteers: Coll, The Bin Ladens, p. 255.
Page 215, Military Academy of the Mujahidin: Nasir Abas.
Page 217, Sayyaf: Sources on Sayyaf: Coll, Ghost Wars; Wright, Rashid, Roy, Rubin, Burke.
Page 217, draped in colourful Afghan batu: Wright.
Page 217, US$26 million in bribes: Rashid, p. 197.
Page 217, elaborate complex known as ‘Sayyafabad’: Burke, p. 70; Lamb, p. 220; Wright.
Page 217, with separate colleges: Author interview with Ahmad Shah Amadzai, former deputy to Sayyaf, Kabul, July 2008.
Pages 217–18, this facility had moved in the mid 1980s: Nasir Abas: some writers have described Sayyaf’s University of Dawah and Jihad as a ‘terrorist training academy’. However, Nasir Abas says that from the mid 1980s all military training was done at Camp Sadda.
Page 218, 100 000 Afghan refugees: Ahmad Shah Amadzai.
Page 218, (ISI) anointed just seven parties: Wright, Lamb.
Page 222, ‘Jihad and the rifle alone’: Yossef Bodansky, Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America, Prima Lifestyles, Roseville, CA, 2001.
Page 231, Osama bin Laden: Sources on Bin Laden: Wright, Bergen, Burke, Bodansky; Coll, Ghost Wars and The Bin Ladens.
Page 231, Islamic Co-ordination Council: Rubin, p. 179.
Page 231, established MAK and bin Laden who provided the funds: Bergen, p. 59; Wright, pp. 102–3; Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 155.
Page 231, Together in 1988 they formed a new organisation: For the most comprehensive account of the formation of al Qaeda, see Wright, pp. 131–4.
Page 231, Bin Laden provided the funding for Sayyaf’s military academy: Wright, p. 104; John Cooley, Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America and International Terrorism, Pluto Press, London, 1999, p. 212.
Page 231, under Sayyaf’s protection and in his territory: Nasir Abas; Wright, p. 111.
Page 232, ‘someone who was anti-American’: Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 155.
Page 232, new policy of ‘sidelining the extremists’: Rubin.
Page 235, ‘a heaven-sent man’: Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 204.
Page 235, ‘a turbaned Robin Hood’: Bergen, p. 35.
Page 236, ‘actually did some very good things’: Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 155.
Page 236, admired as a ‘mother figure’: Mohammed Al Shafey, ‘Asharq Al-Awsat Interviews Umm Mohammed: The Wife of Bin Laden’s Spiritual Mentor’, Asharq Al-Awsat, 30 April 2006,
Page 236, She ran ten schools: Rubin, p. 190.
Page 237, ‘Bin Laden sought to pamper’: Al Shafey.
Page 238, bin Laden’s passport was seized: Coll, The Bin Ladens, p. 376.
Page 239, new organisation Jemaah Islamiyah: Re-formation of JI in 1993, testimony of Achmad Roihan in the trial of Abu Rusdan in Indonesia, August 2003, cited in Sidney Jones, ‘Indonesia Backgrounder: Jihad in Central Sulawesi’, International Crisis Group, February 2004; also confidential author interview with JI member, Sydney, 2003, cited in Sally Neighbour, In the Shadow of Swords, Harper Collins, Sydney, 2004.
Page 239, about 200 recruits: Nasir Abas.
Page 239, They included leaders such as: Sidney Jones, ‘Jemaah Islamiyah in South East Asia: Damaged but Still Dangerous’, International Crisis Group, August 2003.
Page 239, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed: The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission), 9/11 Commission Report, July 2004,
Page 241, source of much gossip: Nasir Abas.
Page 241, according to a colleague: Nasir Aba
s.
Page 242, In April 1992: Amin Saikal, ‘The Rabbani Government, 1992– 1996’, in William Maley (ed.), Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan and the Taliban, New York University Press, New York, 1998.
Page 242, Osama bin Laden flew to Peshawar: Wright, p. 161.
Page 244, a savage new contest for power: Saikal.
Page 244, In February 1993: Simon Reeve, The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the Future of Terrorism, Andre Deutsch, London, 1999; Burke.
Page 244, Yousef had travelled to Peshawar: Reeve, p. 49; Bergen, p. 36.
Page 244, fellow militant who later testified: USA v Usama bin Laden, cross-examination of Jamal al-Fadl, 20 February 2001, cited in Burke.
Page 245, ‘Saudi prince’: Wright, p. 3.
Page 245, ‘independent actor’: Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 255.
Page 245, Congressional Taskforce on Terrorism: Bergen, p. 118.
Page 245, remained a marginal player: Burke, p. 20.
Page 245, US State Department report: Burke, p. 20.
Page 245, Bhutto launched a crackdown: Burke, p. 98.
Page 246, Sayyaf and his lieutenants had left: Ahmad Shah Amadzai.
Page 249, ‘The reality is’: Bergen, p. 75.
Page 250, Yusuf Islam: Yusuf Islam did not respond to my correspondence so I am reliant on Rabiah’s account of their meeting.
11 ‘Wahhabi’
Page 257, ‘I wouldn’t say he was anti-Islam’: Author interview with Jack Roche, Perth, 24 November 2007.
Page 259, Al Noori Islamic primary school: Silma Buckley, Bridges of Light: The Struggle of an Islamic Private School in Australia, Muslim Service Association, Sydney, 1991.
Page 259, board chaired by: Author interview with Sheikh Khalil Chami, Lakemba, May 2008.
Page 260, ‘she was a very concerned person’: Author interview with Siddiq Buckley, Sydney, May 2008.
Page 261, HAI was later named:
Page 262, Sheikh Omran hosted: Cameron Stewart and Colleen Egan, ‘A Word from the Wise’, Weekend Australian, 18–19 October 2003.
Page 262, Abu Qatada: ‘Profile: Abu Qatada’, BBC News, June 2008; ‘Preacher Abu Qatada Wins Appeal’, BBC News, 9 April 2008; ‘Government Fears Risk of Qatada Escape Has Increased,’ AFP, London, 13 November 2008.
Page 262, Australian jemaah: Sally Neighbour, In the Shadow of Swords, Harper Collins, Sydney, 2004.
Page 263, visited Australia eleven times: Immigration department records, cited in Neighbour.
Page 263, ‘an open declaration of disbelief ’: Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, ‘Indonesia, Democracy, Priests, Parliament and Self-made Gods’, Nida’ul Islam, October–November 1996.
Page 265, Egypt in late 1995: Amr Shalakany, ‘Tourists and Terrorists: The Governance of Political Violence in Egypt, 1981–2006’, paper delivered at Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, December 2006; Anthony Bubalo, ‘Egypt: Preachers or Politicians?’ in Anthony Bubalo, Greg Fealy and Whit Mason, Zealous Democrats: Islamism and Democracy in Egypt, Indonesia and Turkey, Lowy Institute for International Policy, Paper 25, Sydney, 2008. Additional information from Anthony Bubalo.
Page 266, prototype for Islamic groups: Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda’s Road to 9/11, Penguin, London, 2006.
Page 266, al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya (the Islamic Group) and al-Jihad: Wright.
Page 266, By 1995 emergency law: Shalakany.
Page 266, the most popular destination: Bubalo.
Page 266, Al Azhar:
Page 274, Luxor: Wright.
Page 275, ‘I wasn’t happy’: Sheikh Khalil Chami.
Page 275, ‘It was predictable’: Author interview with Silma Ihram, Sydney, 23 May 2008.
Page 278, ‘Rabiah was very big on women’s rights’: Author interview with Jack Roche, Perth, November 2007.
Page 279, power struggle: Author interview with Gabr el Gafi, Four Corners, ABC TV, ‘The Australian Connections’, June 2003,
Page 280, ‘I found the truth’: Cameron Stewart and Colleen Egan, ‘Heroes and Lost Souls’, Weekend Australian, 20–21 December 2003.
Page 280, denounced the ‘Zionist pigs’: ‘The Enemy’s Plot’, videotaped lecture by Sheikh Feiz, obtained by author at Islamic bookshop in Lakemba.
Page 280, a young man named Khaled: At the time of publication in 2009, Rahmah’s husband was facing criminal charges in Australia, as a result of which I have not used his full name and have included minimal details about him.
Page 281, ‘She was not human’: Author interview with Nadia Aboufadil, August 2008.
Page 281, ‘Charmaine’s condition’: Author interview with Craig Johnston, August 2008; and (by email) February 2009.
12 A Letter to Osama
Page 285, perils of the journey: For the road to the border I have also drawn on Peter L Bergen, Holy War Inc: Inside the Secret World of Osama Bin Laden, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2001.
Page 286, sheep tails: Bergen.
Page 287, Sayyaf and modest compound outside Kabul: Steve Coll, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001, Penguin, London, 2004.
Page 287, Taliban: Ahmed Rashid, Taliban, Yale University Press, 2001.
Page 287, ‘They saw themselves’: Rashid, p. 23.
Page 288, ‘Thieves will have’: Rashid, p. 50.
Page 288, ‘Islamically deviant’: The opposition to the Taliban within the Islamist movement in Peshawar is described in Vahid Brown, Cracks in the Foundation: Leadership Schisms in Al-Qa’ida, 1989–2006, Combating Terrorism Center, US Military Academy, West Point, New York, September 2007,
Page 288, The infant mortality rate: Rashid, p. 107.
Page 289, border crossing: For this description I have also drawn on Bergen, Rashid and Paul McGeough, Manhattan to Baghdad: Despatches from the Frontline in the War on Terror, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2003.
Pages 291–2, Bin Laden had moved and Jalalabad: Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda’s Road to 9/11, Penguin, London, 2006, pp. 225, 229.
Page 293, shut down schools: Rashid, Bergen.
Page 294, World Islamic Front: Rohan Gunaratna, Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror, Scribe Publications, Melbourne, 2002.
Page 294, ‘to fight and kill Americans’: Manifesto of the World Islamic Front, announced by Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, 22 February 1998, cited in Bergen, p. 9.
Page 295, bin Laden was indicted: US Grand Jury Indictment Against Usama Bin Laden, United States District Court, Southern District of New York, 6 November 1998,
Page 295, US$5 million bounty: Steve Macko, ‘United States Puts $5m Bounty on Osama Bin Laden’s Head’, ERRI Daily Intelligence Report, ERRI Risk Assessment Services, vol. 4–309, 5 November 1998.
Page 295, cruise missile attacks: Bergen.
Page 295, popular hero: Yosef Bodansky, Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America, Prima Lifestyles, Roseville, CA, 2001.
Page 296, boys with shovels: Bergen.
Page 297, Ahmed Khadr: ‘The Khadr Legacy’, Khadr family website,
��The Khadr Family’, CBC News Online, 30 October 2006; Wright.
Page 297, Human Concern International:
Page 297, to raise funds for their projects: Jack Cahill, ‘Pretty Toys Maiming Afghan Kids’, Toronto Star, 25 September 1986; Michelle Shepard, Guantanamo’s Child: The Untold Story of Omar Khadr, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2008.
Page 297, ‘Hope Village’: ‘Human Concern International, Rehabilitating and Reconstructing a Torn Land, Afghanistan’,
Page 297, close friend and ally: Wright, p. 136. Wright refers to Khadr here by his kuniya ‘Abu Abdul Rahman’.
Page 298, ‘founding member’: ‘The Khadr Family’. For Khadr’s role in the early years of al Qaeda, see Wright, p. 136. Khadr is referred to here by his kuniya Abu Abdul Rahman.
Page 298, ‘a man of respect’: Journalist Eric Margolis, in Shepard.
Page 298, bombing at the Egyptian embassy: US terrorism analyst Marc Sageman asserts that Khadr financed the bombing for Zawahiri’s al Jihad group. See Marc Sageman, Understanding Terror Networks, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004.
Page 298, Khadr was charged: Shepard; Theresa Boyle, ‘Canadian Held in Pakistan Bombing’, Toronto Star, 15 December 1995; John Stackhouse, ‘Canadian Sought for Questioning in Car Bombing’, Globe & Mail, 5 September 1998; Faisal Kutty, ‘Canadian Relief Worker Held in Pakistan’, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, February–March 1996, p. 103.
Page 298, ‘did not have much evidence’: Theresa Boyle, ‘Canadian Charged in Bomb Attack’, Toronto Star, 5 January 1996.
Page 298, and released him: Faisal Kutty, ‘Canadian Charity Claims Religious Discrimination’, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July–August 1999.
Page 298, shifted to Jalalabad: Wright.
Page 298, moved into the bin Laden compound: Testimony of Abdurahman Khadr, 13 July 2004, Montreal, cited in Stewart Bell, ‘A Lot of Canadians in Al-Qaeda: Vancouver Men at Terror Training Camp, Khadr Says’, National Post, 1 August 2004; Affidavit of Gregory T Hughes, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2005.