War on terror

FBI-undercover operative on how he infiltrated al Qaeda

Tamer Elnoury works for the FBI's National Security Covert Operations Unit, and is one of only a handful of undercovers who is both Arab and Muslim. No member of the unit has spoken before.  He's written a book, "American Radical," that has been cleared by the FBI.

Elnoury, who came with his family from Egypt when he was four, says he's written the book and doing the 60 Minutes interview because he wants Americans to understand that Muslims like him are risking their lives to defend the United States. "We're not at war with Islam. We're at war with radicals. I am a Muslim. I am an American. And I've been serving my country for 22 years and counting. And I am appalled at what these animals are doing to my country while desecrating my religion."

Elnoury is one of the many 'legends' he used. A legend is an elaborately crafted identity the FBI gives its undercover operatives. In this case, they made him a wealthy Arab-American real estate investor who accidently meets his Qaeda contact on a plane.  Seated near the terrorist, Chiheb Esseghaier – a man the FBI had been surveilling – "Elnoury" clearly looked Middle Eastern and the terrorist reached out to him in Arabic. The plan worked. "I crafted my legend and made myself recruitable. I wanted him to choose me," Elnoury tells Pelley. "I wanted him to go to bed that night wondering what he could do to become my friend."