Terror Attacks : From the Zealots to Bin Laden (True Crime) by Anne Williams, Vivian Head

and even distinguished themselves in several military operations. Saladin decided to reward some of his soldiers for bravery and arranged an inspection of his artillerymen. As he walked among his men, an Assassin sprang from the ranks and struck Saladin with a dagger, but the blow only glanced off his steel helmet. Saladin managed to throw his attacker to the ground, where he was cut to pieces by his loyal men. A second, third and fourth Assassin came forward in an attempt to kill their target, but these two were overcome by Saladin’s men, although several of his emirs were killed in the struggle. After these attempts Saladin decided to increase his security arrangements and started to sleep in a wooden tower that could only be reached by a rope ladder, which was pulled up by the occupant, making him a much more difficult target.
    Incensed by these unsuccessful attempts made on his life, Saladin decided to attack the Assassin stronghold of Masyaf. However, after several mysterious warnings from the Grand Master himself, Saladin lifted the siege and attempted to maintain good relations with the sect. Legend has it that the sect’s leader, referred to as the ‘Old Man’, actually stole into Saladin’s tent, leaving a poisoned cake and a note on his chest as he slept, with the message ‘You are in our power’. Another account is that a letter was sent to Saladin’s maternal uncle, swearing that the entire royal line would be wiped out. Maybe these were just idle threats, but whatever the truth is behind these mysterious threats, Saladin certainly heeded these warnings and took no further action.
    It appears that Christians were largely untouched by the Assassins, and it was not until the middle of the 12th century that they had even heard of the strange sect. However, Raymond II of Tripoli and Conrad of Montferrat, King of Jerusalem, were both victims of their attacks. It is thought that the assassins of Conrad could possibly have been hired by Richard the Lionheart.
    Conrad was attacked by two Hashshashin, who, dressed as monks, stabbed him in the side and back when he was returning home after visiting his friend, Philip, Bishop of Beauvais. Apparently they had waited six months for an opportune moment to carry out the assassination. He was taken home by his guards, who managed to kill one of his attackers and capture the other. Conrad received the last rites before dying of his wounds and on his deathbed, he urged his wife Isabella to give the city over to Richard the Lionheart, although this story has been disputed. According to Saladin’s envoy the two Assassins confessed under torture that Richard was the instigator, and this was widely believed among the Franks, especially when Richard’s friend Count Henry of Champagne married Conrad’s widow and succeeded to the throne. This information is of course impossible to prove as fact. If, however, Saladin was responsible he did not live to profit from his action because he died the following year, in March.
    The Assassins made a firm footing in Syria, and watched the consolidation of the fragmented states and the old Fatimid Empire of Cairo into a single state with great apprehension. They preferred that the Arab states of Syria remain fragmented so that they could play their potential enemies off one another, ensuring that their own power remain on a similar level to that of their rivals.
    Following the capture of Masyad in 1260 by the Mongols, the Mamluk Sultan Baybars in 1272 dealt the Syrian branch of the Assassins a final blow. Following that attack, the Assassins were estimated to be around 150,000 in number, but they were sparsely scattered through Syria, Persia, Zanzibar and India and went by the name of Thojas or Mowlas.
     
    T HE  M ODERN  E QUIVALENT
     
    There have been comparisons made between the historical Assassin movement and al-Qaeda, possibly because the similarity between their tactics of using terror and political assassinations, and also their