Blood and Sand

by Frank Gardner

  To the BBC, especially Jonathan Baker, Mark Damazer and Sarah Ward-Lilley, for offering every possible support right from day one; I forgive the BBC’s news managers now for all the wrecked weekends and cancelled evenings that come with being in the news business. To my excellent agent Julian Alexander at LAW for helping to turn a concept into a book, and to the BBC’s Vin Ray for recommending him. To Simon Taylor and my publishers, Transworld, for backing this book with so much enthusiasm and professionalism. To Louise Cumbers and Bob Cumbers for proofreading the difficult passages about Simon. To Frank Cross, again, for his medical advice on the rehab chapter, and to David Pearce for his insights into Yemen. My thanks to David Budge for his sobering eye-witness account of the Riyadh bombing of 2003. To Adam Kelliher, for thinking up the snappy title for the penultimate chapter. To the many hundred of kind people out there, Muslims, Christians, Jews and others, who sent me letters, emails, poems and prayers to raise my spirits while I was in hospital and since.

  To my parents who, after twenty-five years of worrying about their son being in the Middle East, finally saw their worst fears realized. To my wife, Amanda, for going through hell and never once complaining, and to my daughters, Melissa and Sasha: you were all worth surviving for.

  Picture Credits

  All photos have been kindly supplied by the author except for the following: Osama bin Laden: © Reuters/CORBIS; Simon Cumbers: © Louise Cumbers; FG on Breakfast News and FG at his desk: BBC; FG receives his OBE: courtesy BCA Films.

  The drawings that open each chapter are the author’s own and are taken from the journals he kept as a student.

  Index

  The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.

  Abdullah, King 237, 453, 483

  Abdurrahman, Sheikh Omar 176

  Abu Dhabi 215–16

  Abu Ghraib 322–3

  Abu’l Kheer 481

  Aden-Abyan Islamic Army 202, 207, 210

  Adie, Kate 257, 430

  Advice and Reformation Committee 181

  ‘Afghan Arabs’ 269

  Afghan Militia Forces (AMF) 339

  Afghanistan 256, 258, 259, 261, 267, 334, 335–52, 424

  Bagram airbase 340–2

  Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programme 338

  Operation Mountain Resolve 342, 343, 344

  Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) 336

  Shkin firebase 345–8

  Ain Sukhna beach (Egypt) 70

  Al-Ahdal, Muhammed 278

  Al Arab, Mohammed 203

  Al-Assad, President Bashar 261

  Al-Assad, President Hafez 161, 163

  Al-Azhar Mosque (Cairo) 235–7

  Al-Badawi, Samar 480–1

  Al-Batar 274

  Al-Blaidan, Blaidan 473

  Al Bustan Palace (Muscat) 166–7

  Al-Butairy, Fahad 457–60, 489

  Al-Durra, Mohammed 235

  Al-Duwaisan, Khaled 173–4

  Alexandria 68–9

  Al-Fagih, Dr Saad 239

  Al-Faisal, Prince Turki 16–17, 370–1

  Al-Fawaz, Khalid 181–2, 183, 184

  Algeria 53–7

  civil war 57

  kidnap of European hostages (2003) 57

  Al-Hajj, Khalid Bin 275

  Al-Hakim, Muhammad Baqr 327–8

  Al-Harithi, Qa’id Sunyan Ali 278, 281–2

  Al-Hejailan, Salah 242

  Al-Hindawi, Nizar 114

  Al-Hofuf 460

  Al-Husun (Yemen) 278–9

  Al-Iman Hospital (Riyadh) 32, 353, 355

  Al-Jazeera 234, 267, 311, 325

  Al-Khalayleh, Ahmed 332

  Al-Khalifa, Crown Prince Hamad 156

  Al-Khalifa, Sheikh Isa 155–6

  Al-Khobar Al-Qaeda raid 15–16, 19

  Al-Masri, Abu Hamza 202–3, 207–8, 210

  Al-Megrahi, Abdelbaset 246, 248, 249

  Al-Muqrin, Abdulaziz 275–6, 412–13, 414

  Al-Nahyan, Sheikh Zayed 215–16

  Al-Omran, Ahmed 461–2

  Al-Otaibi, Captain 317

  Al-Otaibi, Hamoud 485

  Al-Qaeda 255, 269, 282, 302, 433, 452, 474, 489

  and Afghanistan 337

  attacks by 302

  attacks on HSBC and British Consulate in Istanbul (2003) 289, 305–7

  attacks in Saudi Arabia 269–72, 273–5

  beheading tapes 331–3

  bomb attack on Madrid (2004) 307–9

  and British intelligence services 297–8

  and Iraq 311, 312–13, 322, 326, 331–5

  and London bombings 421–2

  presence in East Africa 282

  raid on Al-Khobar 15–16, 19

  reasons for Britain being a target of 302–4

  key to defeating 424

  and Somalia 284

  training camps in Afghanistan 334, 350–1

  Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) 274

  Al-Qassimi, Sultan 451

  Al-Rayyes, Ibrahim 23

  Al-Sabah, Sheikh Khaled 314–17, 387, 435–6

  Al-Saud, Crown Prince Abdullah 262

  Al-Saud, Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman 482–4

  Al-Saud, King Fahd 243, 262

  Al-Saud, Prince Nayef bin Abdelaziz 238, 242

  Al-Saud, Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz 354, 361

  Al-Aseeri, Ibrahim 452

  Al-Shibh, Ramzi Bin 278, 341

  Al-Subaei, Abdullah 413

  Al-Suwaidi (Riyadh) 22, 23–4, 412

  Al-Thumama dunes 466

  Al-Tuwaijiri, Tariq 242

  Al-Zarqawi, Abu Mus’ab 313, 332, 333

  Al-Zawahiri, Dr Ayman 255, 270, 299–300, 349, 351

  Amanpour, Christiane 238

  Amman (Jordan) 116

  Amos, Baroness 242

  Andrew, Prince 437–9

  Annan, Kofi 379

  Ansar Al-Islam 313

  Arab Legion 122

  Arab Spring 453, 460, 462, 463, 464, 488, 489

  Arab Thought Foundation Forum 431

  Arafat, Yasser 178–9, 180, 398

  Aswan High Dam 87, 89

  Atta, Mohammed 251

  Attayig, Sheikh Hajji 121–3, 134

  Auda Bin Abi Tayyi 121–2

  Aziz, Tariq 147

  Aznar, José María 308

  Baath Party 321, 330

  Bab El-Aziziya barracks (Libya) 248

  Bagram airbase (Afghanistan) 340–2

  Bahrain 143–57, 190

  Baker, Jonathan 324, 404

  Bakhurst, Kevin 285

  Bali 302

  Balkans 211–14

  Bani Dabyan tribe 197

  baseej (volunteer martyr) 46

  Basra 434

  in 1998 319–20

  during and after Iraq War 326–30

  Bautz, Dr Peter 355–6, 357, 362, 363, 364, 404, 484, 486

  BBC 453

  BBC World Service 95–6, 173–81

  Bedu 217

  Jordanian 123–34

  Sinai 82–3

  Begin, Menanchim 59

  Beirut 158–60

  belly dancing 76–7

  Berg, Nick 331–3

  Bigley, Ken 333

  Biles, Peter 174

  Bin Laden, Osama 181–3, 255, 270, 340, 351

  admiration amongst Arabs for 268

  and Afghanistan 181, 182, 259, 349–50

  audio broadcasts 265, 309, 311

  interviews with media 182–4

  and Iraq 311–12

  and Sudan 97, 181

  Bin Laden, Yeslam (half-brother) 405

  Bin Nayef, Prince Mohammed 452

  Blaine, David 372

  Blair, Tony 242, 257, 261, 303, 304

  Blunkett, David 304, 379

  Bosnia-Herzegovina 212

  Bowen, Jeremy 430

  Brad 434

  Brezhnev, L
eonid 86

  Britain

  reasons for being a target for Al-Qaeda 302–4

  Broadcasting House programme 424

  Brown, Ben 377

  Bruce, Fiona 404

  Buchanan, Euan 190

  Budge, David 270

  Bullough, Mark 141, 143–4, 165

  Buraida (Saudi Arabia) 262–9

  Burj Al-Arab Hotel (Dubai) 195, 211

  Bush, President George Snr 314

  Bush, President George W. 258, 261, 298

  Cairo 60–6, 71–8, 86, 87–8, 97–106, 220–2, 223–5, 291, 436–7, 443

  architecture, 62–3

  Batniyya quarter 105

  Gamaliya quarter 98–9

  Ghouriya district 101

  Imbaba quarter 65–6

  Sainsbury’s in 224

  Zamalek quarter 64

  Camp David treaty 59, 79

  Carrie (girlfriend) 112, 146

  Carter, Jimmy 59

  Casablanca bombings 298, 302

  Cayford, Jo 379, 387, 443

  CBC 184

  Centcom 230

  Chelsea and Westminster Hospital 385–8, 444

  CIA 307

  CJTF-HOA (Combined Joint Taskforce Horn of Africa) 282–3, 284

  Clinton, President Bill 268

  Cole, USS 230, 281, 350

  Colombia 185–6

  Cowper-Coles, Sir Sherard 21, 75–6, 353, 410, 432

  Craig, Sir James 113

  Cramer, Chris 177

  Croatia 212

  Cross, Frank 364, 367, 369, 381, 384, 442

  Cuba 299

  Cumbers, Bob (Simon’s father) 416–18

  Cumbers, Louise (Simon’s wife) 18, 360, 398, 399, 414

  Cumbers, Simon 18, 257, 416–18, 449, 485

  memorial service 397–9

  investigation into his death 354–5, 413–14

  trip to Saudi Arabia 18–26

  Cunningham, Andrew 48

  Al-Dakheel, Faisal 412–13, 414

  Dalton, Richard 245

  Damascus 160–1

  Damazer, Mark 358

  Dar es Salaam

  bombing of US embassy 282

  Darling, Alastair 304

  Davis, Colonel Rodney 342–4

  de la Billiere, General Sir Peter 41, 156, 169–71, 377

  Desert Fox bombing campaign (1998) 317

  Desert Island Discs 428

  Dodd, Daniel 173, 174

  Downing, Malcolm 189–90, 203

  Drysdale, John 170

  Dubai 187–9, 194, 433–4

  in 1950s 188

  hijacking of Indian passenger plane 219

  Egypt 232, 303

  assassination of Sadat 58–60

  handing back of Sinai Peninsula by Israel 79

  Islamist insurgency against Mubarak’s rule 88, 254–5

  protests over Israeli–Palestinian hostilities 235–6

  visit by John Pope Paul II (2000) 222–3

  Egyptian Islamic Jihad 255

  Egyptians 67–8, 69–70, 98–9, 106, 221, 224–5

  El-Islambouly, Khaled 59

  Elizabeth, Queen 428–30

  Elmes, Simon 436

  El Saadawi, Dr Nawal 108

  El-Sirri, Yasser 255

  ETA 308

  Exeter University 39–40, 45, 47

  Explore Worldwide 201, 204

  Fahima, Al-Amin 246, 248

  Fairservice, Iain 215

  Fallshaw, Tony 285, 378

  FIS (Front Islamique de Salvation) 57

  Fisk, Robert 114, 182

  Fleming, Tony 49

  Flemings 140, 141, 142, 143, 169, 314, 435

  Ford, Anna 307

  France

  bombs set off by GIA in 296

  Frank Gardner’s Return to Saudi Arabia 454

  Gaddafi, Colonel 114, 244, 246–7, 248–10

  Gall, Dr Angela 408

  Galloway, George 178

  Gardez (Afghanistan) 335–8

  Gardner, Amanda (wife) 15, 17–18, 165–7, 170, 175, 187–8, 189, 194, 210–11, 225, 291, 358–61, 362–3, 415, 433, 439, 441, 444, 485

  Gardner, Grace (mother) 33, 36, 357, 368

  Gardner, Melissa (daughter) 194, 224, 359, 368, 384, 441

  Gardner, Neil (father) 19–20, 35–6, 60, 357–8, 368

  Gardner, Sasha (daughter) 211, 224, 359, 368, 384, 441

  GCHQ 294

  Ghabaisha, Bin 214

  Ghailan, Mohsen 207, 209

  Ghardaya (Algeria) 56

  GIA 296

  Gibraltar, Strait of

  plot to ram explosive-laden dinghies into Western warships 297

  Giza pyramids 75, 437

  Glubb, John 122

  Goodwin, Phil 342, 343

  Grand Erg Oriental (Algeria) 52, 53

  Griffiths, Stew 455, 462, 471

  Guantanamo Bay 298–302

  Guerin, Orla 377, 398–9

  Gulf War 146–8, 313

  Guy, Frances 289

  Halliwell, Geri 257

  Halutz, Dan 446

  Hamilton, Michael 15, 20, 28

  Hanrahan, Brian 377, 430

  Harad 474

  Haram Al-Sharif 84, 231

  HardTalk 179

  Hassan, Margaret 400

  Hawkins, Neil 48

  Hawley, Caroline 378

  Heath, Ted 179

  Heathrow airport alert (2003) 303–5

  Henderson, Vic 203

  Hicks, Gill 425

  Hicks, Julie 382, 406

  Hittar, Judge Hammoud 286

  Hizbollah 233, 442, 445, 446–8

  Hobbs, Aidan and Naomi 358

  Holland 37–8

  Horn of Africa US attempt to prevent Al-Qaeda operations in 282–3

  Howaitat tribe 122

  HSBC (Istanbul)

  bomb attack on (2003) 305–6

  Hughes, Stuart 378, 404

  Hull, Ed 277

  Humphreys, John 401

  Hurghada (Egypt) 70

  Hurst, Dominic 340, 342, 343, 344

  Hussein, King 115

  Intelligence services, British 292–3, 306–7

  and Al-Qaeda 297–8

  and plot to launch explosive-laden dinghies into Western warships in Strait of Gibraltar 297–8

  taking interest in Islamist activists living in UK 294–6

  see also MI5; MI6

  Intifada 231–6

  IRA 297

  Iran 435

  and Lockerbie bombing 251

  Iran–Iraq War 45–7, 142–3, 318

  Iranian embassy siege 40–1

  Iraq 424

  abuse of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib 322–3

  and Al-Qaeda 311, 312–13, 322, 326, 331–5

  Al-Qaeda beheading tapes 331–3

  Coalition and mistakes made by 320–3

  invasion of Kuwait (1990) 142–3, 144–5

  post-war Islamist insurgency 331–5

  state of Basra in 1998 319–20

  suicide-bombing missions 334

  torturing of prisoners by Secret Police 330

  and UN weapons inspectors 190, 323–4

  US flying missions over 193

  war with Iran 45–7, 142, 318

  and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) 310, 320, 323–4

  Iraq Survey Group 324

  Iraq war 320–1, 323–9, 331

  and Al-Qaeda 326

  British soldiers based in Basra 327, 328–9

  view of by Arab world and media coverage 312, 324–6

  Islam

  spread of 50–1

  Israel 58, 79, 162, 303

  Israeli Airforce 445, 446, 447

  Israeli Defence Force (IDF) 233, 234

  Israel–Lebanon war 441–2, 444–8

  Israeli–Palestinian conflict 231–6

  Istanbul

  bomb attack on British consulate and HSBC (2003) 289, 305

  Jabal Faifa 477

  Jalali, Ali 340

  Jasra Ball 165

  Jebel
Qara 462

  Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) 150, 480, 488

  Jerash (Jordan) 117

  Jerusalem 83–5, 443, 444, 445–6

  Jersualem Post 444

  Jessel, Adam 462, 464, 467, 468, 474

  Jizan 469, 471, 476

  John Paul II, Pope visit to Egypt 222–3

  Johnson, Paul 29

  Joint Terrorist Analysis Centre (JTAC) 420

  Jordan 115–33, 232, 303

  Kabina, Bin 214

  Kamel, Mohammed 207, 209

  Karzai, President Hamid 337

  Kassala (Sudan) 94–5

  Keane, Feargal 213

  Kelliher, Adam 177–8

  Kenny, Pat 416

  Khan, Mohammed Siddique 27, 421

  Khartoum 92–3

  Khomeini, Ayatollah 45

  King Faisal Hospital, Riyadh 354, 355, 484–7

  Koran 50

  Kosovo 212

  Krak des Chevaliers (Syria) 163

  Kuwait

  drugs problem 225–8

  invasion of by Iraq (1990) 142–3, 144–5

  liberation of and aftermath of invasion 313–16

  Late Late Show 416

  Lawrence of Arabia 122

  Lawrence, T. E. 117, 119–20, 122

  Seven Pillars of Wisdom 120

  Lebanon 81, 114, 158–60, 442, 446–8

  Libya 114, 243–51

  Lockerbie trials and verdict 243–51

  UN sanctions 244, 245–6

  US bombing raids (1986) 114, 248

  Libyans 244, 245–6

  Linley, Emma 392

  Lockerbie bombing and trial 243–51

  London bombings (2005) 208, 255, 419–25

  MI5 294, 296–7, 301

  MI6 293, 294, 297

  Mabahith (Saudi secret police) 266, 267, 269, 411

  McCartney, Paul 379

  McGuire, Ann 173, 174, 177, 179

  Macloud, Scott 182

  Madrid

  Al-Qaeda bomb attack 307–9

  Mahfouz, Naguib

  Midaq Alley 50

  Miramar 68

  Major, John 314

  Makaoui, Driss 404

  Manion, Julian 223

  Manningham-Buller, Eliza 294

  Marr, Andrew 262

  Marriott hotel (Cairo) 255

  Mathison, Ron 157–8, 379–80

  Matmata (Tunisia) 51–2

  Maughan, James 185, 379

  Mazel, Zvi 235

  Middle East Association 113