Bin Laden wanted to attack UK years before 9/11, top secret dossier revealsAmerica’s spy agency releases a trove of previously confidential files on the 25th anniversary of the 2001 terror attacks.Britain was on the hitlist of the al Qaida leader in 1998, CIA documents show (IntelCenter/PA)PA MediaNick Lester2 minutes ago
The CIA had “strong indications” terror chief Osama bin Laden wanted to attack Britain on its own soil years before 9/11, newly declassified presidential memos reveal.
The previously top secret documents detail how the UK was on the hitlist of the al Qaida leader back in 1998.
The information emerged in a trove of President’s Daily Brief (PDB) products released by CIA director John Ratcliffe to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks, which claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people, including 67 British citizens.
9/11 was the worst terrorist outrage of all time, claiming the lives of nearly 3,000 people from more than 90 nations (PA)PA Archive
The spy agency said the single largest publication of such files related to the atrocity “aimed to give Americans a glimpse into our most sensitive intelligence from the years before and day after one of our nation’s darkest moments”.
It added that the 71 briefing notes, which have been redacted, “trace the story of CIA analysts’ evolving understanding” of al Qaida and efforts to highlight and warn of Bin Laden’s plotting “despite sparse, vague, and imperfect information”.
Notably, there are several references in the documents to plans by Bin Laden to hijack planes, including the possibility that a group “may fly an explosive-packed airplane into a US city”.
The PDB is a confidential dossier presented to the US president each day, summarising the most important global threats, national security issues, and intelligence analysis.
One of the documents dated August 28 1998, said that Bin Laden, which the agency spells in the files as Bin Ladin, was looking to target the UK.
Entitled “Bin Ladin Terrorist Network Still a Threat”, it was compiled following American cruise missile strikes on al Qaida bases in Sudan and Afghanistan in retaliation for the earlier bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which claimed hundreds of lives.
US secretary of defence Pete Hegseth, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Dan Caine and other officials, watch as the US flag is unfurled at the Pentagon (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)AP
It stated: “Hours before the US missile strikes, Bin Ladin (redacted) was looking at options for further attacks against the US as well as the UK (redacted) Bin Ladin did not indicate precise targets or timing.”
A further memo at the end of that year, subject marked “Significant Near-Term Threat of Bin Ladin Attacks”, said: “We have strong indications that he would like to attack the US and allies such as the UK and Israel on their own soil.
“If Bin Ladin judges these venues are too well defended, however, he will target US and allied interests in other areas of the world accessible to his network.”
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It also made a portentous reference to “planning to hijack aircraft”, in relation to “impending anti-US terrorist operations”.
A separate file dated August 1999 highlighted Bin Laden’s frustration after two of his London-based henchmen were detained by British police.
The document stated: “His organisation’s capabilities have suffered from the arrest of key operatives.
A memorial is seen on the 25th anniversary of the September terrorist attacks in New York (Angelina Katsanis/AP)AP
“Bin Ladin in interviews last year expressed anger over the arrests of his senior procurement officer and the chief of his organisation in the UK.”
Britain was also named in the haul of papers as a recruiting ground for the al Qaida leader.
A note dated October 14 2000 with the title “Bin Ladin: Terrorist Network Active Despite Disruptions” said: “Worldwide recruitment of fighters for the struggle in Chechnya has created a surplus of Islamic militants that Bin Ladin and other extremists are drawing on to promote terrorism abroad.
“Mujahidin supporters recruit young Muslims in the UK, Pakistan, Turkey, the Arabian Peninsula, and elsewhere for training at camps affiliated with Bin Ladin in Afghanistan.”
The final document dated the day after the 9/11 outrage, provided a situation report in which Bin Laden’s name featured prominently.
A source indicated the attacks had been planned for two years, and suggested the congressional building and the White House may also have been targets.
US President Donald Trump speaks during an observance ceremony on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, at the Pentagon (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)AP
It also noted the disruption to air travel caused by the closure of US and Canadian airports and pointed out that the UK and Belgium had banned commercial flights over central London and Brussels.
Back in September 11 2001, 2,977 people were killed when passenger jets hijacked by al Qaida terrorists struck the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York, causing both to collapse, and the Pentagon outside Washington DC.
A fourth plane seized by extremists – United Airlines Flight 93 – crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania after the crew and passengers fought back and so prevented it from hitting another target, thought to be the Capitol building and seat of the US legislature.
It remains the worst terrorist outrage of all time, claiming the lives of victims from more than 90 nations.
Former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, who was serving as White House national security adviser at the time of the attack, told a 25th anniversary ceremony at the Pentagon on Friday that she still felt deep pain that “those of us in authority on that day did not see the nature of the danger in time to prevent the attack of 9/11”.
She added: “I will always carry deep personal remorse for the pain that you, the families of the fallen, still feel, and for the trauma that our country endured.”
It has previously been reported that Bin Laden was aware of the July 7 bomb plot in London.
On that day back in 2005, four suicide bombers struck the capital’s transport network, killing 52 people and injuring more than 770 on three underground trains and a bus.
Evidence also emerged that he had prior knowledge of the foiled 2006 plot to detonate liquid bombs on transatlantic flights from the UK.
Bin Laden was killed in a US military raid on his Pakistan compound back in 2011.
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