The Roots of Islamic Extremismbr World Affairs Council: Nor Cal - World Affairs Council of Northern Californiabr Yaroslav Trofimov on Mecca's Forgotten Uprising.On November 20, 1979, hundreds of gunmen stunned the world by seizing Islam's holiest shrine, the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Armed with rifles that they had smuggled inside coffins, these men came from more than a dozen countries, launching the first operation of global jihad in modern times. With nearly 100,000 worshipers trapped inside the holy compound, Mecca's bloody siege lasted two weeks, inflaming Muslim rage against the United States and causing hundreds of deaths. This dramatic and consequential story was barely covered in the press in these pre-CNN days, as Saudi Arabia imposed an information blackout and kept foreign correspondents away.