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Yaroslav Trofimov is the chief foreign-affairs correspondent of The Wall Street Journal and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in international reporting for two consecutive years, in 2022 and 2023. Before covering the Russian war on Ukraine, he reported on most major conflicts of the past two decades, serving as the Journal's bureau chief in Afghanistan and Pakistan and as a correspondent in Iraq. He holds an MA from New York University and is the author of two critically acclaimed books, Faith at War and The Siege of Mecca.
Yaroslav Trofimov's website
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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 ...
Carmen Bin Ladin/ Carmen Dufour was born in 1954 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Her father was Swiss, hence the name Dufour, and her mother was Persian. She was raised in Lausanne by her mother along with three other sisters.
From...
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If you enjoyed:
The Siege of Mecca
Try:
Inside The Kingdom
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Mark Bowden is the author of several books, including Killing Pablo, Black Hawk Down, Bringing the Heat, Doctor Dealer, Finders Keepers, and Guests of the Ayatollah. He reported at The Philadelphia Inquirer for twenty years ... (more)
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The Siege of Mecca
Try:
Guests of the Ayatollah
by Mark Bowden
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