And, according to the leaked intelligence documents, they even knew that each bomber was then handed £32,000 to plan the attacks.
A number of those known to be at the "cell meetings" were later captured or killed in raids by the SAS and other special forces troops. That suggests the SAS may have been homing in on Bin Laden himself - and could have even got to within a few yards of him at one of the meetings.
Among cell members who were targeted are ex-warlord Mullah Dadullah, a close associate of Bin Laden.
He was killed in May 2007 in a raid by US special forces and the SAS. Cell member Mullah Baradar was captured by Pakistani security forces in Karachi earlier this year.
The reports are among 91,000 secret US files leaked by WikiLeaks. The CIA has until now insisted nothing has been known of Bin Laden's whereabouts since 2003. But the files detail numerous intelligence reports from between 2004 and 2009 about where he may have been hiding.
Some say he maintains a firm grip over the fanatics fighting inside Afghanistan.
Others say Bin Laden died in a hospital in Peshawar in 2007. US military chiefs yesterday said there will be a criminal inquiry to find who gave the documents to WikiLeaks.
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the files include "secrets that could potentially endanger our operations and our forces in Afghanistan".
Al-Qaeda's second in command Ayman al-Zawahiri threatened new attacks on the US and the West in a video posted on jihadist websites last night.
|
