Is Islamic fundamentalism ready to turn?

The security forces of the western nations are working hard to minimise the risk of terrorist incidents on their territories by Islamic fundamentalists from home and abroad, but security measures alone will never be enough to remove the terrorist threat. This will require a change in the hearts and minds of the fundamentalists and this is much more likely to come from within the world of Islam than from outside it.
Therefore we can only welcome the impending publication of a 100-page work called “Advice Regarding The Conduct Of Jihadist Action In Egypt And The World” which challenges the Islamic theological basis for violent jihad. It is expected that the work will be endorsed by hundreds of former militants The author of the work is Sayid Imam al-Sharif. So, who is he?
Sharif, 57, was the founder and first emir (commander) of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organisation, whose supporters assassinated President Anwar Sadat in 1981 and later teamed up with Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan in the war against the Soviet occupation. Sharif, a surgeon who is still known by his underground name of “Dr Fadl”, is famous as the author of the Salafi jihadists’ “bible” – Foundations of Preparation for Holy War. He worked with Ayman al-Zawahiri, another Egyptian doctor and now Bin Laden’s deputy.
Later he was kidnapped in Yemen after 9/11, interrogated by the CIA and extradited to Egypt where has been serving a life sentence since 2004. His work is likely to cause bitter divisions in the world of Islamic fundamentalism and we can only hope that this debate leads to less violence.
More information on Sayid Imam al-Sharif and his like here.