A Radical's Journey

[David Morris]

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/28/international/europe/28EURO.html

A Radical's Journey: After Immigration, Jihad Offers Meaning

Mr. Beghal's journey is typical of that followed by thousands of Islamic 
radicals in Europe, who find meaning in jihad after lives of alienation. 
Born in 1965 in Algeria, Mr. Beghal was brought to a gritty suburb of Paris 
as a child.

He grew up there in the public housing projects of Corbeil-Essonnes, where 
his name, until October, was still on the intercom of the first-floor 
apartment of building C-5. In some ways, Mr. Beghal integrated well. He 
married a French woman, Sylvie, with whom he has three boys. He speaks 
flawless French.

But like many immigrants he was stuck on the bottom, drifting between menial 
jobs in grimy food stalls in an outdoor market near Paris. For a man with 
intelligence, charisma and a penchant for leadership, it was a frustrating 
existence.

According to intelligence officials, he began to frequent the mosques in the 
projects, where he was exhorted to build the new Islamic society and where 
he heard Western society excoriated for its decadence, selfishness and 
godlessness.

He learned about Muslims in Bosnia, Chechnya, the West Bank and Gaza Strip 
and Iraq. As an Algerian he was also painfully aware of the annulment of the 
Algerian elections in 1991 when Islamic parties swept to victory only to be 
denied power. France played a pivotal role in backing the military 
government that broke the Islamic insurgency.

"In the suburbs many people belong to the Algerian network although they are 
French nationals," said Judge Jean-Louis Bruguière, the French 
magistrate-prosecutor who specializes in investigating terrorist 
organizations. "They have no job. They have no information, no hope for the 
future. One day they meet a guy who is interesting, who has good knowledge 
of Islam. They tell him, `I can give you something, a task for you, for the 
future.' They explain Islam. They bring a global conception of their life, 
teach them a skill and they say, `We have a goal for you in the future.' 
They say, `You can continue to deceive, continue to forge papers, but now 
you do it as a sign of the measure of God, for Allah.' "



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