Bush Knew of Bin Laden's Hijacking Goals before 9/11

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, May 16, 2002

Bush Knew of Bin Laden's Hijacking Goals before 9/11

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U.S. President George W. Bush had been told by U.S. intelligence weeks before September 11 last year that Osama bin Laden's network might hijack American airplanes, the White House acknowledged Wednesday night.

"The information the president got dealt with hijackings in thetraditional sense, not suicide bombers, not using planes as missiles," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

"There has been long-standing speculation, shared with the president, about the potential of hijackings in the traditional sense," said Fleischer.

The intelligence prompted the Bush administration to issue a private warning to certain federal agencies, he said.

The disclosure came at a time when congressional investigators are intensifying their study on whether the government failed to adequately respond to warnings of a suicide hijacking before September 11.

It is the first direct link between Bush and intelligence gathered before September 11 about the attacks.

The development follows reports earlier this month that FBI headquarters did not act on a memo last July from its Arizona office warning there were a large number of Arabs seeking pilot, security and airport operations training at U.S. flight schools.

The memo urged a check of all flight schools to identify more possible Middle Eastern students. It also raised suspicions that bin Laden might have been behind the organized flight training.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Bob Graham, a Democrat from Florida, said earlier Wednesday that the House and Senate intelligence panels will hold hearings soon about various memos and reports.

A key question, Graham said, would be "why these dots weren't seen and connected."

He said lawmakers did not get a satisfactory answer about why the Arizona memo did not prompt more FBI action and investigation.

FBI Director Robert Mueller has said that nothing his agency possessed before September 11 pointed to the multiple-airliner hijacking plot.

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