Narrator/Raza Jaffrey (24:50)
Why Allah? Why won't you let me go? Why stop me serving you? Leaning his forehead against the steering wheel, just one thought circles in his fevered brain. Why would God let the mujahideen loose? Three months later the outskirts of Aarhus, Denmark Storm sits alone on a small boat in the middle of Brabant Lake, waiting for fish to bite his fishing line. A light mist hangs above the water. Patches of ice drift and swirl in the bays of the lake. The past three months have felt dark to Storm. He dedicated his life to the cause. It cost him. His childhood friends, put him on the radar of intelligence services and strained relations with his mother. So the devastation of not being able to go to Somalia to fulfill his jihadi duty has plunged him into depression and doubt. He cannot understand why Allah would allow defeat upon defeat to be inflicted upon his holy warriors just when they are fulfilling the prophecies. Seeking answers, he googles contradictions in the Quran. The flood of results he gets back brings his extremist beliefs crashing down. The religious justifications his fellow jihadi used for killing civilians don't hold up. He feels Lost and depressed. Nothing makes sense anymore. He has reread the Quran and prayed in mosques, but his faith remains shaken to its core. He keeps wondering, what if the cause he embraced is a lie? Because if it is a lie, then nothing about the the jihadi cause is right or righteous. He thinks about his mother and grandparents. His radical beliefs condemn them and all other unbelievers to death and hellfire. His fellow extremists claim that to kill them with bombs or a knife in the street is God's work. Did he deceive himself for 10 years? Or did he let others deceive him? Rage surges through him. He stands and throws his rod with all his strength. Fuck these lies. Steadying himself against the violent rocking of the boat, Storm watches the rod splash and sink beneath the lake water, taking his faith with it. But what now? He is now the enemy of his friends. The only thing jihadis hate more than non believers are apostates, those who renounce the faith. And it's not just Storm who's at risk. His wife and family will be in danger too. Because Storm knows too much to be allowed to just walk away. March 2007 Aarhus, Denmark Morton Storm enters the presidential suite of the Radisson Hotel. A handsome Danish intelligence officer greets him. He looks like George Clooney in his designer clothes. Welcome, Mr. Storm. It's good to see you again. You can call me Clang. And this is my colleague Buddha. Please sit down. Storm glances at Buddha and scoffs. Clang and Buddha? Is this a Marvel comic? Storm's bravado conceals his nervousness. Ever since his brush with MI5 in the UK, Storm suspected he was under surveillance. So he wasn't shocked when Klang tried to recruit him as a spy shortly after he returned to Denmark from Yemen. At the time, Storm swore at him but took Klang's business card all the same. Then three days ago, he rediscovered the card and realized it could be the answer to his problem. If he must pretend to still be a jihadi to protect himself, then maybe he can turn it into a purpose and atone for his involvement with these terrorists. So he called Clang's number. Buddha hands Storm a room service menu. Order anything you like. It's on us. We can ensure it's halal. Storm ignores the menu. I want a bacon sandwich and a Carlsberg beer. Clang and Buddha look shocked, but Storm feels a weight lift. I'm no longer Muslim. The religion that was my life means nothing to me now. I'm ready to help you fight Terrorism. A few months later, Birmingham, Storm is back in England. Because of his extensive jihadist contacts there, Danish intelligence have loaned him out to MI5. Now he and Fadia live in a small house in Alum Rock, a majority Muslim area of the city, and Storm works as a taxi driver. This morning, after prayers at the local mosque, Storm got invited back to the house of a Syrian refugee and chemistry graduate, Hassan Tabak. Tabak. Tabakh ushers Storm through the front door and then excuses himself hurriedly. Wait here. Storm suspects Tabak will be a person of interest to MI5. During their conversations on Islam, Tabakh was impressed that Storm was friends with Anwar Al Awlaki. He revealed he had been following the US Born Cleric's online sermons for years. Tabak returns looking excited. His hands shake as he lays an array of drawings, plans and maps on the dining table. Storm peers at the documents. What is this, brother? Targets. Oxford street and the area around Parliament. And these. These are sketches of the devices I'm building. What do you think? Will it work? Storm feels his adrenaline surgeon. His loss of faith came with a newfound desire to stop jihadi terrorists from killing and maiming civilians. And now he stumbled onto a terror bomb plot. He needs to learn everything he can and get word to MI5. You need to be careful, brother. This is good. But who else have you told about this? Only you, I swear. I thought perhaps you could ask Sheikh Al Awlaki for his blessing. Storm feigns enthusiasm while learning all he can about Tabakh's plans. He knows Tabakh is MI5's worst fear, a lone wolf terrorist. He dreads to think what would have happened if Tabakh revealed his plans to someone else. But now he will be taken out of action before he gets a chance to act. And Storms getting a taste for his new life as a spy. It's six months later, February 2008, and Storm is driving through Yemen near the City of Attack. On one side of the road, a sea of sand dunes merge into the reddening dusk sky. He reassures his wife, who's in the passenger seat. Not much further, my love. He can only see her cold rimmed eyes, but they look tired. They have been driving for nine hours to meet Anwar Al Awlakhi. Officially, it's just a social call, but for Storm, this trip is essential for his spy work. A few months ago, the CIA learned that Storm was friendly with the radical preacher. So they asked Danish intelligence if Storm could make contact with him. And MI5 reluctantly agreed he could take a break from his UK work. Since Storm was last in Yemen. Al Awlakhi's notoriety has grown. His sermons are linked to terror plots in both the US and the uk. He was recently released from prison, where the Yemeni authorities held him without charge for 18 months. Now Al Awlaki has disappeared into his family's tribal heartlands and the CIA have lost all trace of him. It didn't take Storm long to reconnect. Within days of returning to Yemen, Storm had an invitation to meet Al Awlaki at his new home in the southern city of Attak. Storm drives into Attak and spots Al Awlakhi waiting for them on the street. The cleric's face lights up with genuine pleasure. It is so good to see you, Murad. I have been in dire need of intellectual company. Al Awlaki now dresses like a tribal chief. He wears a Yemeni turban and has a traditional curved bronze dagger sheathed into an embroidered waistband. As they talk, Storm can see prison has made him harder and more bitter towards Yemen's government and America. On entering his house, Faria disappears with Al Awlaki's teenage second wife. Storm turns to Al Awlaki. How is your new wife coping here? Al Aulaki shakes his head. She's not happy. All she wants to do is watch Turkish soaps on television. Storm laughs, but Alalaki remains serious. Murad, Abba, request. Could you find me a third wife? Me? I'm thinking perhaps a convert from the West. I need someone who will share in the hardships of my life here and who can discuss topics intelligently. Would you help me with this, brother? Storm suppresses a smile. Of all the tasks he expected as either spy or jihadist, matchmaking was not one of them. One month later. Euston, London. Storm sits at a conference table in a small room without windows. He's just returned from Yemen after four months. Now he's debriefing representatives from the CIA, Britain's Foreign Intelligence Service, MI6, and the Danish intelligence agency, PET CIA officer Jed takes control. Who's Al Alaki meeting in attack? Who are his supporters? I didn't ask. I told you. Since leaving prison, he's become paranoid. He suspects everyone of being a spy. Jed paces the room. He's a balding man with ice blue eyes and a pair of black cowboy boots poking beneath his suit trousers. The MI6 man, Matt, coughs politely. You did the right thing and not asking, Morton. You shouldn't visit Yemen again for some time to avoid suspicion. There's plenty of work here, finding homegrown terrorists. Jed rolls his eyes Nat's rolling up the druggies. Al Awlaki is the drug dealer. We need to cut the head off that snake and Storm is our way to him. Storm glances at Matt apologetically as he shares his his next piece of information. I had an email from Alolaki just as I write back. He asked if I could bring supplies the next time I visit. Jed perks up. Supplies like what? Storm takes out a scrap of paper from his pocket and reads. A laptop, night vision goggles, solar panels and $20,000 in cash. He's suggesting I could raise it in the mosques here in Britain. Jed looks at Matt triumphantly. What did I tell you? The guy is moving on from just words. We need to be inside his compound. Matt frowns. We can't just send him $20,000 if he gets out. We've been funding terrorism will be flayed alive in the press if it puts a target on Al Awlaki's back. It's cheap at twice the price. As the British and Americans argue, Storm looks at Klang, his Danish handler. Klang just grins as if the disagreement between the two bigger spy agencies is no big deal. But Storm wonders what it will mean for him if MI6 and the CIA can't agree on how to use him. Spying on a well connected radical Al Awlaki in a volatile Arab country like Yemen is far riskier than watching for new threats in England. It's a few months later and in Helsinger, Denmark, Storm arrives for another meeting with his spy handlers. But today only Jed and Clang are in the room. Man not coming? Jed curls his lip. There's no need for our British friends today. We've already agreed the details. Storm wonders if Jed's learned that MI6 had been making a play for his services behind the CIA's back. Ever since the meeting in Houston, British intelligence has been on a charm offensive, trying to persuade Storm to focus on the UK rather than getting sucked into overseas missions for the CIA. They've even hinted that the Americans can't be trusted to look after him. Jed hands Storm a thick envelope. That's the money for Al Awlaki. Tell him you couldn't raise the full amount. Storm looks inside the envelope. I guess you guys won the argument on how much to give him. This is more than Matt told me I'd get. Jed evades the question. Instead, he shifts to the chair next to Storm. Morton did you and your wife ever go on honeymoon? No, I've not had the time during the last two years or the money Then after this trip to Yemen, you should take one on us. Just say where you want to go and I'll make it happen. Stammering out his thanks, Storm feels even more torn. After Jed leaves, he seeks advice from Clang. Feels like I'm being forced to choose between the Brits and the Americans. I don't know what to do, Clang shrugs. I'd go with the Yanks. They pay more. And it's overseas work. It'll be much more exciting than hanging around in Birmingham. Storm agrees, but MI6's warnings that the CIA might not always have his back worries him. One of his jihadi contacts recently said he cut the head off a spy in Somalia. Now the CIA are sending him on his most dangerous mission yet, a trip back into Al Qaeda's Yemeni heartlands to find Al Awlaki. But can he really trust them and his Danish spymasters?