What will I learn about: how a devout 16-year-old battlefield medic in Bosnia evolved into an al-Qaeda bomb-maker before ultimately switching sides to become an MI6 informant?

Discover how a devout 16-year-old battlefield medic in Bosnia evolved into an al-Qaeda bomb-maker before ultimately switching sides to become an MI6 informant.

What will I learn about: the psychological vulnerabilities and radical texts, like those of Sayyid Qutb, that can push a grieving, studious youth toward the jihadi movement?

Understand the psychological vulnerabilities and radical texts, like those of Sayyid Qutb, that can push a grieving, studious youth toward the jihadi movement.

What will I learn about: how Osama bin Laden strategically shifted al-Qaeda's focus from regional conflicts to targeting the United States in order to accelerate his vision of the end of history?

Find out how Osama bin Laden strategically shifted al-Qaeda's focus from regional conflicts to targeting the United States in order to accelerate his vision of the end of history.

What will I learn about: Explore the chilling inner workings of al-Qaeda's Afghanistan camps, including private pledges of loyalty to bin Laden and the horrific development of chemical weapons?

Explore the chilling inner workings of al-Qaeda's Afghanistan camps, including private pledges of loyalty to bin Laden and the horrific development of chemical weapons.

What will I learn about: Learn why witnessing the indiscriminate torture of civilians and the misuse of the Koran ultimately drove a highly trained extremist to question his allegiance and abandon the cause?

Learn why witnessing the indiscriminate torture of civilians and the misuse of the Koran ultimately drove a highly trained extremist to question his allegiance and abandon the cause.

Nine Lives

My Time As MI6's Top Spy Inside al-Qaeda

Aimen Dean with Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister

★ 4.3 / 5(46 ratings)

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Categories:

History Biography & Memoir

If You're Curious About These Questions...

You should listen to this audiobook

💡Did you know that one of the West’s most important intelligence sources during the War on Terror was actually a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda?
💡Have you ever wondered what it’s really like to lead a high-stakes double life as a spy inside the world's most dangerous terrorist organization?
💡What if the very person responsible for building al-Qaeda’s chemical weapons was the same man secretly working to dismantle the group from within?

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Key Takeaways from Nine Lives

✓Discover how a devout 16-year-old battlefield medic in Bosnia evolved into an al-Qaeda bomb-maker before ultimately switching sides to become an MI6 informant.
✓Understand the psychological vulnerabilities and radical texts, like those of Sayyid Qutb, that can push a grieving, studious youth toward the jihadi movement.
✓Find out how Osama bin Laden strategically shifted al-Qaeda's focus from regional conflicts to targeting the United States in order to accelerate his vision of the end of history.
✓Explore the chilling inner workings of al-Qaeda's Afghanistan camps, including private pledges of loyalty to bin Laden and the horrific development of chemical weapons.
✓Learn why witnessing the indiscriminate torture of civilians and the misuse of the Koran ultimately drove a highly trained extremist to question his allegiance and abandon the cause.

Learning Tools

Reinforce what you learned from Nine Lives

Mind Map

Nine Lives

Early Life & Radicalization+

Joining Al-Qaeda+

Disillusionment & Defection+

Life as an MI6 Spy+

Major Terror Plots+

Exposure & Legacy+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 10

Why did Ali al-Durrani (Aimen Dean) ultimately decide to leave al-Qaeda and become an informant?

A. He was offered a lucrative financial reward and a new life by British intelligence.
B. He realized al-Qaeda was using flawed interpretations of the Koran to justify murdering innocent civilians.
C. He was passed over for a high-ranking leadership position by Osama bin Laden.
D. He was captured by American forces and forced to cooperate to avoid prison.

Question 2 of 10

Where did Ali first experience war and witness extreme violence as a 16-year-old?

A. Afghanistan
B. Chechnya
C. The Philippines
D. Bosnia

Question 3 of 10

While at the Darunta camp in Afghanistan, what specific type of weapon did Ali help develop with the bomb-maker Abu Khabab?

A. Cyber-warfare viruses targeting Western infrastructure
B. Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) for roadside attacks
C. Chemical weapons and poisons extracted from substances like nicotine
D. Long-range ballistic missiles

Question 4 of 10

Why did Ali choose to work with British intelligence (MI6) rather than the Americans or the French?

A. He had enjoyed a previous visit to London and was warned that the Americans had a poor track record of protecting sources.
B. British intelligence offered him immediate citizenship and a guaranteed government pension.
C. He spoke fluent English with a British accent and already had family living in London.
D. The Qatari security forces mandated he work with the UK due to an exclusive intelligence-sharing treaty.

Question 5 of 10

What cover story did Ali use to justify his international travel and time away from jihadi camps while working undercover for MI6 in Afghanistan?

A. He claimed to be recruiting new fighters from European mosques.
B. He started a business exporting food from Kashmir.
C. He posed as a medical doctor procuring supplies for wounded fighters.
D. He pretended to be an international journalist sympathetic to the jihadi cause.

Question 6 of 10

According to Ali's observations, what was a primary driver pushing second-generation British Muslims toward radicalization and al-Qaeda?

A. The lack of economic opportunities and high unemployment rates in the UK.
B. Strict government bans on practicing the Islamic faith in public spaces.
C. Direct, in-person recruitment efforts by Osama bin Laden in London.
D. Feelings of alienation and the constant experience of racism in Britain.

Question 7 of 10

Why were Ali and his MI6 handlers caught completely off guard by the 9/11 attacks despite Ali being an insider?

A. Ali was imprisoned in Pakistan at the time and could not relay his intelligence.
B. The plot was masterminded by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and kept strictly on a need-to-know basis.
C. MI6 ignored Ali's explicit warnings about commercial airplanes being used as weapons.
D. Al-Qaeda had officially canceled the operation before secretly restarting it without Ali's knowledge.

Question 8 of 10

How did Ali inadvertently strengthen the radical conviction of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the future founder of the group that became ISIS?

A. By successfully interpreting a dream Zarqawi had about the deaths of two jihadists, which soon came true.
B. By teaching him advanced guerrilla combat tactics that Ali had learned in Bosnia.
C. By saving Zarqawi's life during a deadly ambush in the Philippines.
D. By providing him with the exact chemical formula for the mubtakkar poison gas.

Question 9 of 10

How was Ali's secret identity as an MI6 informant finally exposed to al-Qaeda?

A. A mole within British intelligence leaked his real name to an extremist cleric.
B. He accidentally left his British passport at an al-Qaeda safehouse in Dudley.
C. Classified details identifying him were published in a Time magazine article and a book by journalist Ron Suskind.
D. He was recognized by a former al-Qaeda associate while vacationing on a boat in Paris.

Question 10 of 10

Why did Aimen Dean (formerly Ali) feel a profound sense of guilt regarding his nephew Ibrahim's death in Syria in 2013?

A. He had personally recruited Ibrahim into the jihadi movement before becoming an informant.
B. He had refused to send Ibrahim the money needed to escape from ISIS territory.
C. He had provided MI6 with intelligence that inadvertently led to the airstrike that killed Ibrahim.
D. He had told Ibrahim stories about his jihadist past, which inspired the teenager to join ISIS.

Nine Lives — Full Chapter Overview

1Recommendation
2As a teenage fighter in the Bosnian War, Ali al-Durrani lost his first life tragically there.
3Ali served the jihadist cause in Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, and the Philippines, yet martyrdom stayed elusive still.
4Ali swore allegiance to al‑Qaeda, yet he deeply questioned parts of its mission.
5After losing faith in al‑Qaeda, Ali chose to inform instead.
6Ali labored tirelessly for British intelligence, first in the UK and then in Afghanistan again.
7As the millennium turned, Islamist terrorism evolved swiftly, and Ali found himself watching from the front row.
8The 9/11 attacks blindsided Ali and underscored the pressing urgency of his mission back then.
9Though increasingly jaded, Ali kept at intelligence work—until an unforeseen event forced his hand entirely.
10Following Aimen’s retirement, the Islamist conflict veered into terrifying new directions indeed.

Nine Lives Summary & Overview

Nine Lives (2018) is the thrilling story of Aimen Dean, a double agent who worked for British intelligence from inside al-Qaeda at the turn of the millennium. Once a committed jihadi, he lost faith in al-Qaeda’s mission and turned informant.

Who Should Listen to Nine Lives?

People interested in the War on Terror
Memoir enthusiasts
Lovers of a good spy thriller

About the Author: Aimen Dean with Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister

Aimen Dean was once a member of al-Qaeda who later spied on the organization for MI6. His coauthors Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister are, respectively, CNN’s terrorism analyst and editor-in-chief of CTC Sentinel, and a British producer and reporter who has worked for the BBC and CNN. Cruickshank and Lister previously wrote Agent Storm with Morten Storm.

Nine Lives

If You're Curious About These Questions...

Listen to Nine Lives — Free Audiobook

Key Takeaways from Nine Lives

Learning Tools

Mind Map

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Nine Lives — Full Chapter Overview

Nine Lives Summary & Overview

Who Should Listen to Nine Lives?

About the Author: Aimen Dean with Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister

Books Similar to Nine Lives