The Secretary Of The British PM Suggested The Discussion Of The Administration Of Bin Laden With The US Nine Months Before The September 11 Tragedy

JAKARTA - Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was advised to raise the issue of the ambush of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a meeting with the United States, nine months before the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to newly released archives.

In a briefing sent by his personal secretary Sir John Sawers, who later became the head of MI6 and a British diplomat to Egypt, on December 13, 2000, Blair was urged to use a forthcoming meeting with US President Bill Clinton to discuss the topic of Bin Laden's ambush.

New information was revealed in the latest declassification of classified files by the National Archives, as reported by The National News Dec. 30.

On the topic of Bin Laden and terrorism, Sir John advised the prime minister to inform the US President that Britain supports the terrorist leader's "thief".

Britain's stance was partly in response to a terrorist attack a few months earlier against US missile destroyer USS Cole, when the ship was moored at Aden Port, Yemen.

In the attack on October 12, 2000, a rubber boat filled with explosives was detonated while circling the bow of the destroyer which was recently pulled to the port to stop refueling.

The explosion killed 17 sailors of Uncle Sam's country Navy and injured 37 others.

Al Qaeda later claimed responsibility for the attack and the US had taken military action into account.

"America does not yet have evidence that UBL (the initials of Usama bin Laden, as written in the document) is responsible for the attack on USS Cole," Sir John wrote to Prime Minister Blair.

"They will not carry out attacks until they have firearms. And that may not be until after January 20."

"You have to tell him that you may be in the Gulf in the first week of January, and don't want any airstrikes at that time. They also need to be reminded that our personnel, for example in Pakistan, would be vulnerable to retaliation if America had been notified longer than us."

"We all support UBL ambushes, but we need few notifications and opportunities to influence time settings."

In June 2001, a video of Al Qaeda recruitment featuring Osama bin Laden boasted about the attack and prompted a similar attack.

President Clinton and his successor, George W. Bush, were later criticized for taking no action after the USS Cole attack and before September 11, 2001, a atrocities that killed nearly 3,000 people.

A report assigned to investigate the September 11 attacks was notified by President Bush's National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, when the Republican government took office on January 20, 2001, evidence of Al Qaeda's involvement was "not clear".

"We know there is speculation that the 2000 Cole attack was Al Qaeda," he said.

"We accept, I think, on January 25 the same assessment (about Al Qaeda's responsibility). That's a start. It's not clear," he said.