In October 2002 Mohamed Sifaoui met a contemporary from his schooldays in Algeria quite by chance. Since the 1980s Sifaoui had become a journalist and a committed opponent of Islamic fundamentalism. His former classmate had joined an active al Qaeda cell in Paris.

The journalist convinced the classmate that he, too, was a follower of Bin Laden and could help with propaganda. Sifaoui slowly gained the confidence of the cell and spent three months inside the organization, much of it at great personal risk: he took on an assumed name, used a false address and frequently carried a hidden camera. His new associates even invited him to visit London, the nerve-centre of al Qaeda in Europe.

Mohamed Sifaoui’s book is a unique and shocking record of his time under cover with al Qaeda. In Inside Al Qaeda readers can eavesdrop on cell members speaking with frankness about how they raise funds, select "legitimate targets" and plan their operations.