ABSTRACT
The story begins with the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan between 1979 and 1988. An ally of the US in the Cold War divide, Pakistan became the nerve centre for planning, coordination training and execution of an anti-Soviet jihad for which many Muslims from the Arab world and Southeast Asia, the Chechens, the Egyptians, the Yemenies as well as volunteered to assist. In 1984, Abdullah Azzam, a Palestinian scholar and former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Organisation (Al-Iqwanul Muslamoon) and Osama bin Laden cofounded the Maktab al Khidamat lil Mujahidin al-Arab-MAK, (or Afghan Service Bureau) in Peshawar, Pakistan as a forum to disseminate propaganda, raise funds and recruit mujahideens. The MAK set up a network of offices in 35 countries (including 30 in US cities). The bureau received substantial official patronage from Islamabad and Washington in terms of armaments, experts for training, intelligence support and networking. In 1988, Azam and Osama bin Laden set up Al-Qaeda al-Sulbah (The Solid Base) to create a worldwide framework of Islamist military and political organizations. After Azzam's death, Osama turned MAK, together with Al-Qaeda, into a global terrorist front.
