Twenty-five years after 9/11, the CIA declassifies more than 70 documents on Al-Qaeda and bin Laden

Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, the CIA released more than 70 presidential intelligence documents on Friday devoted to Al-Qaeda and its former leader Osama bin Laden. The agency believes this publication brings “unprecedented transparency into America’s most sensitive intelligence file, covering the years before and the day after one of the darkest moments in our history.”

These notes review the evolution of American analysis of the jihadist threat before the 2001 attacks. According to the CIA, they "trace the history of CIA analysts' fluctuating understanding of Al-Qaeda, and its efforts to shed light on Osama bin Laden's attack plans, despite rare, vague and imperfect information."

Notes that suggested a plane attack

Among the declassified documents was a memo dated September 10, 1998, which warned that al-Qaeda "could crash a plane full of explosives into an American city." Another, dated December 4, 1998, indicated that Osama bin Laden "and his allies are preparing for attacks in the United States, including the hijacking of a plane."

Our file on the September 11 attacks

On September 11, 2001, the United States was the target of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by 19 members of Al-Qaeda. These attacks left nearly 3,000 dead.