Krista Hunt and Kim Rygiel (Ed.): (En)Gendering the War on Terror: War Stories and Camouflaged Politics

Abstract

Just before sundown, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Hafs al-Masri went to the garden to recite verses from the Qur’an and say their evening prayers. Sheikh Osama had stayed alone in his office, on the first floor of a safe house in Kabul that the al-Qaeda leadership moved into after the 1998 attacks on the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salam. He saw me passing and beckoned me in, smiling:“Abu Jandal, come in! I want to tell you a secret.” I went up to him and he brought a handgun out of his thawb (traditional tunic).“I hope that God never wills it, but if 1 day the enemy traps us, and we are certain to be arrested, I want to be shot twice in the head rather than be taken prisoner.”“Oh Sheikh, may God never give me a reason to kill you.” As I was leaving, I felt the weight of responsibility that would stay with me from now on.

Keywords Bin Laden, Abu Hafs al-Masri , US Embassies, Boston and Woolwich.