| The world’s
most trumpeted and touted terrorist organization,
Al-Qaida (“the base”) was founded
in the year 1988 by a Saudi militant called Osama
Bin Laden- a figure that has consistently enjoyed
tremendous media hype and attention since the
Afghan War to this date, enticing top media heed
especially in the era of post 9/11 apocalypse.
He is regarded as America’s most wanted
enemy and given the fact the he was the person
who masterminded and orchestrated the 9/11 attacks,
qualifies by far the deadliest of foes ever confronted
by the Americans.
Considering the reams of magazine papers spent
on profiling him, hours of coverage on celebrated
TV channels in the form of news, talk shows, etc,
Osama ha successfully attracted and sustained
a thorough focus and continuous media limelight
for over quite a number of years. In the prevailing
political scenario, with the war against terrorism
finding new horizons, Saddam been apprehended,
the threat of WMD been neutralized, Osama with
his “at- large status” is undoubtedly
the most talked about subject.
Born in the year 1957 to a wealthy Saudi family,
Osama lived a highly luxurious life in an exceedingly
wealthy country. His father who owned the greatest
construction company of the world till the year
1966 sent him to college to study engineering,
which illustrates the fact that he was destined
to take over the family’s business later
on. However, with the invasion of Soviet Union
on Afghanistan in the year 1979, events took a
different turn in the life of Bin Laden. He came
to Afghanistan in the mid- 1980s and became the
main financier for Maktab al-Khidamat ("the
Office of Services"), which recruited Muslims
from local mosques around the world to fight against
the Soviets as mujahideen, or "holy warriors."
These were the founding years of Al-Qaida which
in future was to grow into an international network
of Islamic radicals and fundamentalists.
After successfully vanquishing and driving the
Soviets out of Afghanistan, Al- Qaida did not
disband instead began concentrating on other International
political issues that involved Muslims on a global
basis. Today, Al-Qaida has evolved into a multi-ethnic
organization which funds and coordinates the activities
of Islamic militants across the globe. The organization's
principal goal is to topple off the presumed corrupt
and west-influenced governments of Muslim states,
and replace them with the rule of Sharia (Islamic
law). Al-Qaida is intensely anti-Western, and
views the United States in particular as the supreme
enemy of Islam. The agenda of Al-Qaida is based
upon the following objectives:
• Radicalize existing Islamic groups and
create Islamic groups where none exist.
• Total annihilation of the United States,
which is envisaged as the greatest hindrance to
reform in Muslim societies.
• Provide support and patronage to Muslim
fighters in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bosnia, Chechnya,
Eritera, Kosova, Pakistan, Somalia, Tajikistan
and Yemen.
Al-Qaida happens to be an umbrella organization
that patronizes, supports, finances and counsel
fundamentalist Islamic groups on a worldwide basis.
To definitely and exhaustively identify all the
groups that are sponsored and backed by Al-Qaida
would be a daunting task. However, some of the
most prominent associations of the network are
“The Islamic World Front for the struggle
against the Jews and the Crusaders” (Al-Jabhah
al-Islamiyyah al-`Alamiyyah li-Qital al-Yahud
wal-Salibiyyin), formed in the year 1998 by Bin
Laden himself, the Egyptian al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya
and the Egyptian al-Jihad. Both of these groups
have been quite actively participating in terrorist
activities in the past 10 years or so.
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