Fri, May 17, 2002 - Page 1 News List

Bush aware of hijacking threat before Sept. 11

REUTERS , WASHINGTON

Fleischer said Bush had received general information about the threat of airplane hijackings by bin Laden's group.

"That was information that has been known and the president was informed of it," he said.

But Fleischer would not discuss specific information Bush received during his daily intelligence briefings.

CBS News reported that Bush was specifically alerted of a possible airliner attack during his daily intelligence briefings in the weeks before Sept. 11.

A US intelligence official, on condition of anonymity, said the CIA had continuously informed policymakers throughout the summer before Sept. 11 that bin Laden and his network might try to harm US interests and discussed a range of possibilities that included hijackings.

"That was among the many things that we talked about all the time as a potential terrorist threat," the intelligence official said.

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