CIA Releases Its Most Comprehensive Documents on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda for the 25th Anniversary of the September 11 Attack

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) made one of the most comprehensive document releases ever, as part of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attack. The 71 documents published on the institution's website cover the period between February 13, 1998 and September 12, 2001.

According to the New York Times, the documents reveal how US intelligence tracked the perpetrator of the attacks, Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, and his organization's activities against the US for years.

WARNING THAT DRAWN ATTENTION YEARS BEFORE THE ATTACK

The oldest published document is titled "Terrorists seeking weapons of mass destruction capability" dated February 13, 1998.

In the intelligence briefing, it was stated that bin Laden and other radical groups "agreed to obtain unspecified chemical, biological and nuclear materials from open markets."

The document also stated that there was intelligence that bin Laden's followers had previously sought material to target US military facilities in Saudi Arabia.

'WANTS TO ATTACK Washington ON ITS OWN TERRITORY'

The CIA's document titled "Bin Laden's position and intentions" dated September 10, 1998 contains even more remarkable information about the target of the attacks.

In the document, bin Laden was quoted as telling those around him that his preferred option was to attack the United States "in Washington, on his own soil."

The same document also included intelligence that the network responsible for the bomb attacks on US embassies in East Africa in 1998 "could fly a plane filled with explosives to a US city".

'THE US IS PREPARING TO HIDNAPPE PLANES'

Another document dated December 4, 1998 is titled "Bin Laden is preparing to hijack US planes and other attacks."

According to the CIA's assessment, bin Laden and his allies were preparing to carry out various attacks in the United States, including hijacking planes. The document included information that the plane hijacking plan could be used to ensure the release of high-ranking Al Qaeda members.

What was even more striking was the information provided by an unnamed source in the document. Accordingly, a hijacking cell managed to bypass security checks during a "recent trial" at an unnamed airport in New York.

IT WAS CONSIDERED AS THE BIGGEST THREAT IN 1999

In the intelligence briefing titled "Terrorism: Different groups are planning anti-US attacks" dated December 23, 1999, it was stated that the CIA was monitoring terrorist threats around the world.

In the documents, it was stated that the Al Qaeda network led by bin Laden and groups affiliated with the organization are the biggest source of concern for Washington.

DOCUMENTS COVER THE CLINTON AND BUSH PERIOD

The documents released by the CIA span two US presidential terms. Bill Clinton served as US president for two terms. George W. Bush took over the presidency in January 2001, just a few months before the September 11 attacks.

Newly released intelligence records also show that the threat of bin Laden and Al Qaeda was on the agenda of US intelligence in the years before Bush took office.

BIN LADIN WAS KILLED AFTER 10 YEARS

After the September 11 attacks, US operations to capture bin Laden lasted approximately 10 years.

US special forces killed Osama bin Laden in an operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011.

The documents published by the CIA within the scope of its 25th anniversary brought to the agenda the scope of the intelligence that reached Washington years before the attacks, and also shed light on the extent of the warnings received by the US administrations of the period regarding the Al Qaeda threat.