About the Author Allan Kahane

Allan Kahane, an American born in Brazil, has international business interests which include large scale alternative energy projects. These interests take him regularly to four continents and have shown him first hand the deepening negative perception of the U.S. and its counterterrorism activities.

His extensive experience on the international front has also made him a witness to ambitious minor local players who, in pursuit of supremacy, not only exploit a sense of inferiority and victimization present in many developing countries, but also use this as justification for terrorist acts and the acquisition of nuclear weapons. These players, Kahane says, have found an effective way to harness the global imbalance of power to further their own lawless aims.

Kahane has doubts about the ability of Western democracies to counteract the growing trend of terrorism and has growing concerns about our nation’s security. This has provoked him to write Fire With Fire.

Download Allan Kahane's Biography (PDF)

A Note From Allan Kahane, About the Book Fire With Fire

This story is born of true events. While avoiding legal problems, I stayed as close as possible to real people and real situations. For those attentive to developments in the Middle East, a good part of this book will feel familiar: from the Entebbe Operation, the Osirak bombing, and Operation Spring of Youth, to past and present realities in Egypt, Israel and especially Iran.

Nasrullah Sadr Yazdi is a blend of three power-brokers in Iran. As his name suggests, Abdel Aziz Rifaat is a combination of easily recognizable players in the macabre business of Middle East terrorism. Hamza and Mohand El Biali are based on two brothers, Khaled and Mohammed Shawqi al-Islambuli; Khaled was the assassin of Egypt's president Anwar Sadat and his brother Mohammed became a close associate of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. The Popular Islamic Jihad is based on the characteristics and modes of operation of several terrorist groups, mainly the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Al Qaeda and Hezbollah.

The suitcase nuclear bombs are real. Of 132, only forty-eight have been located, leaving a shocking eighty-four bombs still unaccounted for. In the late 1990s, Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev confirmed that the USSR built the bombs. Additionally, Dr. Alexei Yablokov, a past member of the Supreme Soviet and former Science Advisor to President Yeltsin, verified both the existence of the small-sized bombs and Russia's inability to find them. The U.S. Customs undercover investigation was initiated in 1995 and lasted two years. It did indeed end with the arrest of the two Lithuanians who were peddling suitcase nuclear bombs. In its indictment, the U.S. District Court also named the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences for "conspiring to locate and negotiate the source of weapons of mass destruction."

I am indebted to Georges Fleury and Pierre Miquel, whose writings greatly influenced my understanding of the consequences of the Algerian War for today's Middle East. I extend my gratitude as well to Steven Emerson, whose Investigative Project, a vast intelligence and data-gathering center on militant Islam, has been an invaluable source of information.