US President George Bush had general warnings prior to
September 11 that terrorists, including those led by Osama bin Laden, could hijack American passenger planes, the White House admitted late on Wednesday.
The disclosure marks the first time White House officials acknowledged they knew that terrorist organisations such as al-Qaida had targeted US airlines weeks before the deadly strikes that left about 3 000 people dead.
”There was a general awareness of Osama bin Laden, as well as long-standing speculation about hijackings in the traditional sense,” White House representative Claire Buchan said.
She said that prior to September 11, the president and his aides had been receiving information from intelligence agencies about possible attacks on US planes and bin Laden’s terrorist activities.
But none of the reports contained specific warnings about the plots targeting the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon building here, the representative pointed out.
”The information was about the hijackings and Osama bin Laden’s threats around the world in the traditional sense, but not involving suicide bombings,” Buchan stressed.
”There was no specific warning in terms of time, or place, or method of the attacks,” she said.
A Central Intelligence Agency representative refused to say if the information about bin Laden’s terrorist designs and the threat to US airlines was contained in the daily intelligence briefing received by Bush.
”I’m not at liberty to speak on that issue,” said the spokesman, who asked to remain unidentified.
But other officials pointed out the briefings were most likely the source of these warnings.
The revelation came amid signs of growing frustration in Congress with US intelligence and law enforcement agencies, which some lawmakers are inclined to blame for failing to discern telltale signs ahead of the catastrophe.
”You’ll see a lot of it being addressed in coming week,” predicted the CIA representative. ”There are investigations going on.”
The Senate and House of Representatives intelligence committees are to hold formal hearings into the matter soon. – Sapa-AFP