Abdel Bari Atwan

Of Palestinian heritage, Abdel Bari Atwan is the Editor of an influential U.K. based Arabic language based newspaper, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, and has written several books on Islamic politics, as well as writing for both Western (e.g., CNN, Washington Post, Daily Telegraph, New York Times) and Islamic media (e.g., Khlaleej Times, Al-Ahram. While he is regarded as sympathetic to some of the goals of Osama bin Laden, he also has written insightfully, understanding both the radical and the Western view.

When he is writing interpretively, he has reported on the various sides of a controversy, such as liberalism vs. religion in Saudi Arabia. He is often cited, as by Peter Bergen regarding interviews with Osama bin Laden. He is not deferential in discussing the strategy-making in al-Qaeda.