Despite his alleged capture in Pakistan in late 2005, Abu Mus'ab al-Suri, a Syrian originally known as Mustafa Sethmarian Nasar, remains a potent political and ideological figure. One of the foremost theoreticians of the global jihadist movement, al-Suri trained a generation of young jihadis at al-Qaeda's Afghan camps and helped to establish the organization's vast European networks. Having gained extensive military experience fighting in the Syrian Islamist insurgency of the early 1980s, he helped to shape al-Qaeda's global strategy in a series of writings, including his influential Global Islamic Call. In that 1,600 page book, al-Suri outlined a broad strategy for al-Qaeda's younger generation to follow and described practical ways to implement the theories and tactics of jihadi guerrilla warfare.

Introduction -- How important is Abu Mus'ab-al-Suri today? -- Sources on al-Suri's life -- Who is Abu Mus'ab al-Suri? -- The Syrian jihad -- Turmoil and uprising -- Joining the rebels -- A jihadi in exile -- The Hama debacle -- In exile in Saudi Arabia -- Exile in Europe -- Between exile in France and the Syrian jihad -- In Andalus -- Al-Suri's first publication: 'The Islamic jihadi revolution in Syria' -- The bombing of El Descanso restaurant in Madrid? -- Afghanistan: land of holy war -- The road to Afghanistan -- From a Syrian to a global jihad -- With Abdallah Azzam and Osama bin Laden -- Training and combat -- From military instructor to jihadi intellectual -- The rise of the Egyptian jihadi trend in Peshawar -- Introducing 'a global Islamic resistance' concept -- Leaving Peshawar -- Behind enemy lines -- Algeria: his next jihad -- The GIA and al-Qaida in Sudan -- A new Syrian jihad group? -- The rise of an al-Qaida cell in Spain -- A media jihadi in Londonistan 1994-97 -- In the service of the Algerian GIA -- Bin Laden's media agent -- Al-Suri's film on Channel 4 -- Facilitating CNN's bin Laden interview -- With al-Quds al-Arabi in Tora Bora -- Meeting the Financial Times -- Suing the Arab world's largest newspaper -- Companions, rivals, acquaintances -- Abu Qutadah al-Filastini: a love-hate relationship -- Muhammad Bahayah: life-long friend and companion -- Taysir Allouni: a point of contact in al-Jazeera -- Amir Azizi: a Moroccan aide and training associate? -- Adil Abd al-Bari: a fellow jihadi journalist -- Saad al-Faqih and Khalid al-Fawwaz: acquaintances inside the Saudi camp -- Noman Benotman and the Libyan Islamic fighting group -- In the service of the taleban -- Leaving Londonistan -- Taleban: the true Islamic emirate -- The Afghan training camps -- The Ghuraba training camp -- Teaching jihadi terrorism -- Moroccan jihadis, Abu Layth al-Libi and Abu Musʻab al-Zarqawi -- Writer and journalist -- Al-Suri and the al-Qaida leadership -- A secessionist leader? -- Weapons of mass destruction -- The September 11th attacks -- A $5 million dollar al-Qaida fugitive -- New books, a reward, and global fame -- His activities and whereabouts -- Al-Suri, al-Zarqawi, and the Iraqi front -- Masterminding terror? -- A message to the Europeans, July 2005 -- Al-Suri's testament -- The capture of al-Suri -- 'The global Islamic resistance call'.