New Age Islam

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad 04 Feb 2012, NewAgeIslam.Com The Siege of Mecca: The Forgotten Uprising in Islam's Holiest Shrine and the Birth of al-Qaeda
	On November 20, 1979, worldwide attention was focused on Tehran, where the Iranian hostage crisis was entering its third week. The same morning—the first of a new Muslim century—hundreds of gunmen stunned the world by seizing Islam’s holiest shrine, the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Armed with rifles that they had smuggled inside coffins, these men came from more than a dozen countries, launching the first operation of global jihad in modern times. Led by a Saudi preacher named Juhayman al Uteybi, they believed that the Saudi royal family had become a craven servant of American infidels, and sought a return to the glory of uncompromising Islam. With nearly 100,000 worshippers trapped inside the holy compound, Mecca’s bloody siege lasted two weeks, inflaming Muslim rage against the United States and causing hundreds of deaths. ... Yaroslav Trofimov talks in the following video about his book The Siege of Mecca: The Forgotten Uprising in Islam's Holiest Shrine and the Birth of Al Qaeda, published by Doubleday. The author talks about the 1979 siege of the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the consequences of the Saudi government's efforts to end it. Mr. Trofimov argues that this event eventually led to the creation of Al Qaeda and other jihadists groups. Yaroslav Trofimov on Mecca's Forgotten Uprising from World Affairs Council: Nor Cal http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamTerrorismJihad_1.aspx?ArticleID=6554