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The Siege of Mecca

The Forgotten Uprising in Islam's Holiest Shrine & the Birth of Al-Qaeda

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The Siege of Mecca

Written by: Yaroslav Trofimov
Narrated by: Todd McLaren
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About this listen

 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.

Despite U.S. assistance, the Saudi royal family proved haplessly incapable of dislodging the occupier, whose ranks included American converts to Islam. In Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini blamed the "Great Satan", the United States, for defiling the shrine, prompting mobs to storm and torch American embassies in Pakistan and Libya.

The desperate Saudis finally enlisted the help of French commandos led by Captain Paul Barril, who prepared the final assault and supplied the poison gas that knocked out the insurgents. Though most captured gunmen were quickly beheaded, the Saudi royal family responded to this unprecedented challenge by compromising with the rebels' supporters among the kingdom's most senior clerics, helping them nurture and export Juhayman's violent brand of Islam around the world.

Written with the pacing, detail, and suspense of a real-life thriller, The Siege of Mecca reveals how Saudi reaction to the uprising in Mecca set free the forces that produced the attacks of 9/11 and the harrowing circumstances that surround us today.

©2007 Yaroslav Trofimov (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc. Freedom & Security Islam Middle East Royalty War & Crisis King Pakistan Siege War United States Crusade
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What the critics say

"Solid journalistic and storytelling skills....Trofimov does excellent work in narrating [these events]." ( Kirkus)
"A compelling historical narrative....Casual readers will be well served by this introduction to Muslim fundamentalist terrorism." ( Publishers Weekly)

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Profile Image for Yusuf Serag

My God. crazy unbelievablely important story. wow

this is required Reading I think. The entire upheaval facing the Muslim (and larger) world from religious extremism is to an unbelievable degree based on the secret (maybe not secret but definitely suppressed history relayed here). image if this stuff happened today lol. The ending was spot on

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