Homeland: Carrie's Run: A Homeland Novel Page 31

  Murabitun—Al Murabitun was started in 1957 by Sunni Muslim followers of Egyptian President Nasser. They opposed the pro-Western policies of Lebanon’s then-President Camille Chamoun, a Maronite Christian. They acquired the name Al Murabitun, “the Sentinels,” during fighting in the first Lebanese Civil War in 1958. Later, during the long Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), the Sunni Muslim Murabitun joined with the LNM, the Lebanese National Movement, a coalition of left-wing and socialist forces who had combined with the Druze and Palestinians, all of whom joined forces against the Maronite Christian Lebanese Forces.

  Operations Officer—As an Operations Officer, also called a “case officer,” Carrie’s job is to recruit and run or “handle” agents. These agents, also called “assets,” “sources,” “Joes” or “birds” in CIA parlance, are typically nationals of the country she is in. Or they may be members of specific groups, foreign intelligence services or other organizations who can provide “intel” or intelligence that is of value to the United States.

  Sunnis versus Shiites—The origin of the conflict between Sunnis and Shiites goes back to 632 when the Prophet Muhammad died without leaving a son or heir. Two claimants vied to replace him as the leader or caliph, of the new religion: the Prophet’s closest male relative by blood, his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, whose followers called themselves Shiat Ali, the followers of Ali, or Shiites for short; and the Prophet’s father-in-law, Abu Bakr, whose supporters, called Sunnis, believed he would be best able to manage the rapidly expanding Muslim empire. Abu Bakr was chosen, creating the initial rift. The split between these two groups became irreparable in the year 680, when Ali’s son, Hussein (who was not only Ali’s son, but also the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad), challenged what he saw as a heavy-handed Sunni leadership. Ali, his forces outnumbered, was killed at Karbala in Iraq. Many of his male relatives were slain with him. The massacre of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, along with most of his male relatives, sent shock waves across the Muslim empire that reverberate to this day. It led Shiites to adopt a sense of martyrdom as part of their faith, exemplified as they saw it, in the actions of Hussein, whose sacrifice is still commemorated on the Shiite holiday, the Day of Ashura. Throughout history, while acknowledging that they are fellow Muslims, Sunnis and Shiites have viewed each other with suspicion. The conflict continues to this day, often played out through surrogates, such as Hezbollah (Shiite) and Al Qaeda (Sunni), and in countries with mixed populations, such as Lebanon and Iraq.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ANDREW KAPLAN is the author of the bestselling spy thrillers Scorpion Betrayal, Scorpion Winter, and Scorpion Deception. His books have been called “a gold standard for thriller writing” and have been translated into twenty languages. This is his first Homeland novel.

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  ALSO BY ANDREW KAPLAN

  Scorpion Deception

  Scorpion Winter

  Scorpion Betrayal

  War of the Raven

  Dragonfire

  Scorpion

  Hour of the Assassins

  COPYRIGHT

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  HOMELAND: CARRIE’S RUN. Copyright © 2013 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  FIRST EDITION

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

  ISBN 978-0-06-228172-2

  Epub Edition © SEPTEMBER 2013 ISBN 9780062281739

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