# Osama Bin Laden wanted to attack Britain years before 9/11, top secret document reveals

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/osama-bin-laden-wanted-to-attack-britain-years-before-9-11-top-secret-document-reveals/
- Published: 2026-09-12T01:02:32+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-12T01:17:57+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16125117/Osama-Bin-Laden-wanted-attack-Britain-years-9-11.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Government, Politics, UK, World

## Key points

- CIA files show Bin Laden eyed UK attacks as early as 1998
- Papers released for 9/11's 25th anniversary by CIA chief Ratcliffe
- Britain also named as an al Qaeda recruiting ground pre-9/11

## Summary

Newly declassified CIA documents show that Osama Bin Laden was considering attacks on Britain as early as 1998, three years before the 9/11 attacks. The papers, released by CIA director John Ratcliffe to mark the atrocity's 25th anniversary, form part of a wider trove of President's Daily Brief material that reveals how US intelligence analysts gradually built up their understanding of al Qaeda's threat to the West despite limited and imperfect information.

The 71 declassified briefings include a memo from late 1998 stating there were "strong indications" Bin Laden wanted to strike the US and allies, including the UK and Israel, on their own soil, alongside an earlier note referencing possible UK targets following US missile strikes on al Qaeda bases. Other files describe Bin Laden's anger over the 1999 arrest of two London-based operatives and identify Britain as a recruiting ground for jihadist fighters. The final briefing, dated the day after 9/11, noted the attacks had reportedly been planned for two years and detailed the resulting disruption to UK and Belgian airspace; the attacks themselves killed nearly 3,000 people, including 67 British citizens.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.