Publisher to offer inside account of Al Qaeda

Basic books says it will soon publish what it calls the first inside account of life as an Al Qaeda operative.

"Inside the Jihad: My Life with Al Qaeda, A Spy's Story," by Omar Nasiri, is a first-person narrative of Mr. Nasiri's time in an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in the 1990's, followed by a stint as a spy for a Western intelligence service. The book, which was announced lastweek and is scheduled to be published on Nov. 20, is a "detailed portrait of a complex man" with a "unique and chilling perspective," the publisher said in a press release.

But promoting "Inside the Jihad" will be tricky. "It will not be a traditional book tour," said David Steinberger, the chief executive of the Perseus Books Group, whose imprints include Basic Books, Da Capo Press and Running Press, among others. "There will be no author signings and no Oprahappearances and no morning shows."

Omar Nasiri, after all, is a pseudonym for someone who lives in hiding at an undisclosed location abroad, where he wrote the book over the last year. Mr.Nasiri will give only a few interviews, timed to the book's release, and given his ties to Al Qaeda will be unable to enter the United States. One of the interviews is expected to be with the BBC television program "Newsnight," but his face and voice will be digitally altered to protect his identity.

In the absence of an author able to speak for his work, the publisher is depending on other sources to lend credibility to "Inside the Jihad." Michael Scheuer, the former head of the Osama bin Laden unit within the Central Intelligence Agency.

He read the manuscript before publication, Mr. Steinberger said, and key facts in the book were vetted by members of various European security agencies.Some consumers may be squeamish about buying a book written by a former Al Qaeda member, reformed or not, Mr. Steinberger acknowledged.

Still, he added, "There's only one way to get an accurate inside view of what goes on in Al Qaeda. The value of understanding what goes on there outweighs any other consideration."

(New York Times)