CIA’s Bin Laden hunter to reveal near-miss raid

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Sarah Baxter

DRESSED in flowing Afghan robes, Gary Berntsen led the CIA undercover team, codenamed Jawbreaker, assigned to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden in the mountains of Tora Bora during the dying days of the Afghan war.
Now he is on a new mission: to convince the White House — and the American public — that the Al-Qaeda chief was genuinely within his grasp. In his book Jawbreaker, scheduled for publication in October, he claims his team had pinpointed Bin Laden’s location and “knew for certain” he was there.

Berntsen’s manuscript is being vetted by the CIA. He is suing his former employers for taking too long to assess his material and for demanding excessive cuts.

A White House spokesman last week repeated a claim made during the presidential election by General Tommy Franks that, “We don’t know to this day whether Mr Bin Laden was at Tora Bora in December 2001.”

Berntsen, 48, insists he can shoot down that “surprising” statement and has offered to provide proof to Andrew Card, President George W Bush’s chief of staff. “I’d welcome the opportunity to meet White House officials at any time to explain how we knew of Bin Laden’s presence there,” he said last week.


more. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1734192,00.html