A journey into the undercover world of Islamic extremism

From student to spy, and back again 

Fernando Jara was a Bakersfield Community College student who had converted to Islam before 9/11. Wanting to help root out terrorists, he went undercover and overseas. It changed him in many ways.

By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times
4:45 AM PDT, March 18, 2013

BAKERSFIELD — Fernando Jara is something of a star in Kern County — and a mystery.

From humble beginnings, Jara founded a program to rehabilitate drug addicts and felons on a five-acre farm. He is completing a master's degree at Claremont School of Theology and will soon begin work on a doctorate and a law degree.

The energetic 37-year-old and his wife, a Kern County supervisor and rising political star, attended President Obama's inauguration in January at the invitation of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

It's an impressive resume for a junior high school dropout — with one exception. Five years are unaccounted for, and few people here know why.

In 2001, Jara disappeared from public view. He went on a journey that took him across the Middle East into the undercover world of Islamic extremism.

(More here.)