First Wednesday: Inside Al-Qaeda

 

Our 2011 events get off to a flying start with a look at the inner workings of the extremist network Al-Qaeda.

Paddy O’Connell of BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House will be hosting our First Wednesday discussion of the year. With an expert panel we will be examining how the operation works.

Where is it geographically strongest? What form does the organisation take and what tactics does it employ? How has it evolved and how will it evolve in the future?

To address these questions, joining us will be:

Dr Maha Azzam, Associate Fellow, Chatham House.

Investigative journalist and Al-Qaeda expert Camille Tawil. Tawil has covered Islamic militant groups for Al-Hayat Arabic daily in London since the early 1990s and is the author of The Armed Islamic Movement in Algeria – from the FIS to the GIA and Brothers in Arms – the Story of al-Qaeda and the Arab jihadists.

Deepak Tripathi, historian, journalist, researcher and author of Breeding Ground: Afghanistan and the Origins of Islamist Terrorism and Overcoming the Bush Legacy in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Noman Benotman, a senior analyst at Quilliam. He was previously a leader of the jihadist Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and an associate of senior al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sudan. In September 2010, he published an open letter to his former colleague Osama bin Laden calling on him to abandon violence.

Join us in the New Year for a lively public meeting which will mix the views of the experts and commentators with contributions from our audience.