Interview

Yaroslav Trofimov describes his extensive research for The Siege of Mecca: The Forgotten Uprising in Islam's Holiest Shrine and the Birth of al-Qaeda, and describes his efforts to pierce the veil of secrecy which continues to cover the events that unfolded in Mecca during 1979.

The idea behind the book was simple: many people with interest in the Middle East know that something important happened in Mecca back in 1979, but virtually nobody knows precisely what. The more passing references to the Mecca uprising I heard while traveling in the region, the more I was intrigued.

In late 2005, I started to delve into the scarce material that’s in the public domain. It hit me: the events of these two turbulent weeks in late 1979 were a true turning point in modern history. The story of the siege of Mecca really is a prequel to everything we know about Al Qaeda, a prequel that allows us to understand today’s events in Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond.

My reporting started with tracking down Paul Barril, the head of the French commando mission that participated in the siege. I found him in the Dubai Intercontinental, and spent many hours with him, hearing his first-hand account. Through leads supplied by him, I located and interviewed the other French participants in the Mecca affair. At the same time, in early 2006, I also trekked to the British Library – the only place in Europe that keeps Saudi newspapers from 1979 – and met with several London-based Saudi ...