Secret plan to capture bin Laden 'blocked by Bush'

By Toby Harnden in Washington The White House has blocked a secret Pentagon plan to pursue Osama bin Laden in the tribal areas of Pakistan, it was reported yesterday. For six months, the possibility of killing or capturing the al-Qa'ida leader and mastermind of the September 11 terrorist attacks has diminished because of political in-fighting, according to the 'New York Times'. Late last year, the newspaper said, senior Bush administration officials, casting aside long-held concerns about the diplomatic ramifications, drafted a plan to enable US Special Forces to operate in the lawless tribal areas. But the classified Pentagon order, which was designed to mark a shift from what some officials saw as an aversion to risk, became bogged down in a Bush administration turf war. Bush administration lawyers and State Department... [read full story]