To what extent is Al Queda a terrorist organisation?

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To what extent is Al-Qaeda an Islamic terrorist organisation?

Al-Qaeda was an organisation formed in 1979 by Osama bin Laden. Since then bin Laden has been wanted in connection of many terrorist acts. Is Islamic fanaticism the main motivation for Al-Qaeda, or are there other factors?

One link to Islam is the founder, Bin Laden, were Muslims. Bin Laden was born to a wealthy Yemeni father and a Syrian mother in 1957. His father was a very religious man, and he made a fortune from the construction business and had close ties with the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia. He passed on his deep religious feelings to his son, a strong member of the Islamic Faith, who in school and university was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. For a boy born in Saudi Arabia, none of this was unusual. The turning point of his life was the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, which was seen by Bin Laden as an attempt to impose godless communism, and an unjustified attack on Muslim People.  He met in Pakistan with Afghan leaders fighting the Russians, and left for Saudi Arabia to collect money and supplies for Afghan rebels, the Mujahadin. After several trips delivering arms and aid, he decided to join in the fight against the Russians. As a rich Saudi he soon made a name, acquiring followers in Muslims countries, such as Egypt and Turkey. He claimed that his followers numbered in the thousands, all determined to fight a Communist ideology that spurned God.

Eventually he opened a Guesthouse in Peshawar, which became a stopping off point for Mujahadin fighters. He began to build camps in Afghanistan as the numbers of fighters became so great, and he named the guesthouse and camp Al-Qaeda – which in Arabic means ‘The Base’.

After the Mujahadin claimed victory over the Russians in the Cold War, bin Laden looked forward to a warm welcome home, but was instead disillusioned by what he considered to be lack of recognition. When Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait in 1990, bin Laden offered an army of Mujahadin fighters to the government to help defend the Kingdom against further Iraqi aggression. The Saudis turned him down – accepting instead an American offer – and soon there were more than 500,000 on Saudi Soil preparing to launch operation Desert Storm against Iraq.

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This angered bin Laden who then became a bitter critic of the Saudi government, who in his eyes had betrayed Islam.  

Therefore his objective became to remove all American forces from Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf Region.

His other objectives were:

* The liberation of Jerusalem from the Israelis.

* The overthrow of ‘un-Islamic’ governments in the region.

* The restoration of the Caliphate.

Another factor that links Al-Qaeda to Islam is that the majority of Al-Qaeda are of the Muslim Faith. However, they are not all Arabs; there are members of Al-Qaeda ...

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