A plot by terror chief Osama bin Laden to attack Britain has been revealed in newly-released top secret files.

The shocking revelation emerged in a trove of documents released by CIA director John Ratcliffe to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks.

Nearly 3,000 people, including 67 British citizens, died in the attack on the US. The spy agency said the files ‘give Americans a glimpse into our most sensitive intelligence from the years before and day after one of our nation’s darkest moments’.

The briefing notes for US president Bill Clinton dating from 1998 mention plans by Bin Laden to hijack planes, including the possibility that a group ‘may fly an explosive-packed airplane into a US city’.

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They also detail his anger after key supporters were arrested in London.

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.

Referring to an 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, it states: ‘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 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.’

It also made a portentous reference to ‘planning to hijack aircraft’, in relation to ‘impending anti-US terrorist operations’.

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 separate file dated August 1999 highlighted Bin Laden’s frustration after two of his London-based henchmen were detained by British police.

The document read: ‘His organisation’s capabilities have suffered from the arrest of key operatives.

‘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 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.’

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.

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