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Israel tried to kill bin Laden in 1996
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-27 06:27
Israel's Mossad spy service and a foreign counterpart enlisted a confidante
of Osama bin Laden to kill the al Qaeda leader in 1996 but the plan fell apart
over a political dispute, a newspaper said on Thursday.
Saudi-born militant
Osama bin Laden talks at a news conference in Afghanistan in this May 26,
1998 file photo.[Reuters/file] |
Mossad picked up
bin Laden's trail while helping U.S. and Egyptian agents probe an attempt by
Islamist militants on the life of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak as he visited
Ethiopia, Israeli daily Yedioth Aharonoth said citing security sources.
According to the report, Mossad recruited a woman close to bin Laden with the
help of the intelligence service in her country. Neither the woman's name nor
nationality were given.
Yedioth said the woman was meant to kill bin Laden, but the mission was
aborted as a result of a breakdown of ties between Israel and her country linked
to Israeli-Palestinian tensions.
Contacted by Reuters, Danny Yatom, who was head of Mossad at the time,
declined comment on the report.
U.S. officials believe bin Laden is now hiding in the
region of the rugged border demarcating Afghanistan and
Pakistan.
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