-Thomas ---------------------------------------------- Ben Laden and The CIA: The Details of the Meeting
As for the information uncovered by Radio France Internationale and Le Figaro concerning a meeting last July between Ben Laden and a CIA agent in Dubai, the US officials have stated that the allegation are a "complete absurdity". RFI continues to support and adds details to the original story below.
The local representative of the CIA who visited Osama Ben Laden - last 12th of July - at the American Hospital of Dubai goes by the name of Larry Mitchell. Even though his business card specifies that he is a consulate agent, everyone knows in Dubai , most of all the small expatriate community, that he works undercover. In truth, Larry Mitchell belongs to the "big house", otherwise known as the CIA. He himself doesn't conceal it.
Very knowledgeable of the Arab world and especially that of the penninsula, Larry Mitchell is a colorful character who often brightens up the dull soirees given by expatriates in Dubai. One of his close acquaintances has the habit of saying that Mitchell's natural exuberance makes him prone to reveal confidential information. This is perhaps the reason for which he was recalled to Washington last July 15th.
Twenty or so days after the September 11 attacks, in a communication dated October 5th, 2001, the CIA qualified as unsubstantiated rumor the information according to which the intelligence agency had had contact in the past with Ben laden and his entourage, notably during the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. This declaration of the CIA completely contradicts numerous official statements made by american representatives themself.
A look back at the past is necessary as it brings one to seriously judge certain official communications. The former director of the CIA, Robert Gates, confirms in his memoires that the american administration began aiding the afghan Mujahadeen six months before the soviet invasion.
This confirmation ,which belies the CIA communication of October 5th, accords with that of Zbgniev Brzyznski former Secretary of State during the Carter presidency:
<<According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Afghans started in 1980, that is to say, , after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan on December 24, 1979. But the reality kept secret unti now is quite different", and then Brzynzki went on, "it ws July 3rd, 1979 that President Carter signed the first directive for clandestine assistance for the opponents of the pro-soviet regime of Kabul. And it was on that day that I wrote a note to the President explaining to him that in my opinion this aid was going to provoke a soviet militairy invasion.>>
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