Frontline: Season 2011, Episode 24

2011 - 24: The Man Behind the Mosque

It became the most controversial building in America, a mostly derelict property in lower Manhattan made infamous overnight as the Ground Zero Mosque. Going beyond frenzied media portraits at the time, FRONTLINE tells the inside stories of Sharif El-Gamal, a real estate developer, and of the victims' relatives and anti-Islam activists who helped turn his project into a continuing battle over faith, values and the meaning of being American. Also in this hour: A rare interview with former FBI special agent Ali Soufan, who has been at the epicenter of virtually every important moment in the "war on terror." One of only eight Arabic speaking FBI agents, Soufan investigated the U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa, the USS Cole in Yemen, and the interrogations of many of Al Qaeda's captured leaders.