White House saw chain of reports on bin Laden

White House saw chain of reports on bin Laden – ‘The system was blinking red,’ CIA chief told panel” [by

Dana Priest, Washington Post]:

In January 2001, two surveillance photographs from the Kuala Lumpur meeting were shown to an informant who was

helping both the CIA and FBI. He helped them understand that Al-Midhar was at the meeting along with a man

identified as “Khallad” — who by then was known to have planned the Cole bombing. But “we found no effort by

the CIA to renew the long-abandoned search for Midhar or his traveling companions,” the report noted.

Also, contrary to the previous testimony of CIA Director Tenet, the agency did not tell the FBI about this

discovery until late August 2001, according to the report.

Al-Midhar had left the United States in June 2000 but had plans to return.

“It is possible that if, in January 2001, agencies had resumed their search for him” or placed him on a

terrorist watch list, “they might have found him” before he applied for a new visa in June 2001, the report

said.