FT.com / World / US: "'Bin Laden overruled Taliban leader to order assault'
Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, overruled objections from many of his senior advisers and from Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban leader, in ordering the September 11 attacks against the US, the commission investigating the attacks said yesterday.
The revelation was one of many included in the first detailed public discussion of what US investigators have learnt about the plot from captured al-Qaeda leaders, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the conspiracy's alleged mastermind.
Mr bin Laden, who had repeatedly pressed to bring forward the date of the attacks, disregarded fears among his advisers and the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan that the US would respond with a military attack. Mr bin Laden 'thought that an attack against the United States would reap al-Qaeda a recruiting and fundraising bonanza', the commission reported. The investigation also cleared the government of Saudi Arabia of any direct or indirect involvement in the plot."
Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, overruled objections from many of his senior advisers and from Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban leader, in ordering the September 11 attacks against the US, the commission investigating the attacks said yesterday.
The revelation was one of many included in the first detailed public discussion of what US investigators have learnt about the plot from captured al-Qaeda leaders, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the conspiracy's alleged mastermind.
Mr bin Laden, who had repeatedly pressed to bring forward the date of the attacks, disregarded fears among his advisers and the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan that the US would respond with a military attack. Mr bin Laden 'thought that an attack against the United States would reap al-Qaeda a recruiting and fundraising bonanza', the commission reported. The investigation also cleared the government of Saudi Arabia of any direct or indirect involvement in the plot."
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