Hidden in the empty vastness of the world's greatest desert - the Empty Quarter of Saudi Arabia - a tiny caravan of fugitives and camels moves painfully slowly towards its goal.

In extreme heat and exposed to cruelly vicious storms, it is a place where only the strongest and most determined men will survive. Deep in the sands, lost from sight, are the leadership of Al Qaeda, hunted, pursued and regrouping to strike again. Among the bedouin and Arabs of the caravan one man stands out. His strength, self-imposed discipline and leadership mark him. He is an Outsider. To look into his face and memorise it is to court death. His identify is masked, his past is blanked from his memory. To him, the leadership is his only family, and his loyalty to the family is total. Searching for him in the limitless sands and dunes are American and British experts in counter-terrorism with a full range of sophisticated electronics at hand. Above him, quartering the desert, is the unmanned Predator aircraft that is invisible in the cloudless skies and that carries the Hellfire missiles.

Born in Guildford, Surrey, on November 25, 1941, the son of two literary figures, Gerald Seymour now lives in the West Country. He joined ITN in 1963, covering The Great Train Robbery, Vietnam, Ireland, the Munich Olympics massacre, Germany's Red Army, Italy's Red Brigade, and Palestinian groups. Harry's Game, was his first book, published in 1975, to great acclaim. Mr Seymour then gave up reporting. Television adaptations have been made of Harry's Game, The Glory Boys, The Contract, Red Fox, Field Of Blood and The Waiting Time. Writing comes fourth in his list of priorities, after dog walking, float fishing and watching the local rugby team.