CIA planned to snatch bin Laden

13 April 2012

The CIA scrapped an audacious plan to kidnap al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden from an Afghan compound, according to a report into the September 11 terror attacks.

The report, released by a Congressional commission last week, said the now-retired CIA head George Tenet cancelled the 1998 plan amid fears that it was too dangerous.

Agents were rehearsed in the operation to snatch bin Laden from a farm in Kandahar, and eventually transport him to New York or another place where he could be put on trial.

But there were fears that US operatives or innocent civilians could be killed in the raid.

The plan was devised based on satellite imagery and intelligence about a walled compound called Tarnak Farms.

"No capture plan before 9/11 ever again attained the same level of detail and preparation," the report said.

"Working-level CIA officers were disappointed" when the plan was axed, it added.

The US planned, with the help of Afghan tribal leaders, to raid the compound made up of concrete and mud-brick, near Kandahar Airport.

After nightfall, Afghan operatives would attack, focusing on the building most likely to be where bin Laden slept.

Several complete rehearsals were conducted in 1997 and 1998, the commission reported.

By 1998 the CIA was ready to seek White House approval for the raid, and Mr Tenet briefed National Security Adviser Sandy Berger.

The plan was for bin Laden to be snatched by a group of Afghan operatives and handed to a group of tribal leaders in the desert outside Kandahar.

They would turn bin Laden over to a second group of leaders who would then put him in the hands of the CIA.

The plan was eventually scrapped for a number of reasons. The crack US military Delta Force was uneasy with bin Laden being in the hands of tribal leaders for so long, and Mr Berger was worried about the chances of securing a conviction against bin Laden were he brought to trial.

It was feared that bin Laden's supporters may kidnap Americans in Afghanistan as retaliation.

Even the CIA field officer in charge of the operation said the planning - while giving them a 40% chance of success - would not prevent a scenario where "we step back and keep our fingers crossed".

Cabinet level officials were said to be fearful that the risk of civilian casualties was too high.

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