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Print Send RSS Mohamed Sifaoui was born on July 4, 1967, and spent most of his childhood in Algeria. He holds a master's degree in political science and studied theology for two years at the University of Algiers and for two additional years at Zeitouna University's Institute of Theology in Tunis. In 1994, he began work for the Algerian daily Le Soir and survived a February 11, 1996 bomb attack at Le Soir's headquarters at the Maison de la Presse. In 1999, the French government granted him political asylum after he received death threats both from Algerian Islamists and...

Petraeus: Al Qaida Trying to 'Come Back In' U.S. military officials said there will be no significant reduction in coalition troops in the Baghdad area as part of an effort to stop the Al Qaida offensive in northern Iraq. They said Al Qaida was trying to reenter Baghdad and reverse its losses in 2007. "Al Qaida is trying to come back in," U.S. military commander Gen. David Petraeus said. "We can feel it and see it, and what we're trying to do is rip out any roots before they can get deeply into the ground." Read More Militants Assert...

REVIEW: INSIDE AL QAEDA: How I infiltrated the World’s deadliest terrorist organisation. By Mohamed Sifaoui. Granta Books, London. 2003. Published in France as Mes “Freres” Assassins by Le Cherche Midi 2003. Background: February 1996. A sun- drenched spring day in Algiers. A van packed with 300 kg of TNT weaves slowly through the downtown traffic and stops outside Soir d’Algerie newspaper office as Mohamed Sifaoui steps onto the pavement outside the building. His colleague wants to share a joke. In a flash the office explodes into flames and the air plumes with black smoke and is reduced to a pile...