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Troops 'had Bin Laden in sight'
20/12/2006 11:44 - (SA)
Paris - A documentary says French special
forces had Osama bin Laden in their sights twice about three
years ago but their US superiors never ordered them to fire.
The French military, however, said that the incidents never
happened and the report was "erroneous information".
The documentary, due to air next year and seen by Reuters on
Tuesday, says the troops could have killed the al-Qaeda leader
in Afghanistan but the order to shoot never came, possibly
because it took too long to request it.
"In 2003 and 2004 we had Bin Laden in our sights. The sniper
said 'I have Bin Laden'," an anonymous French soldier is quoted
as saying.
The documentary Bin Laden, the failings of a manhunt is by
journalists Emmanuel Razavi and Eric de Lavarene, who have
worked for several major French media outlets in Afghanistan. A
cable television channel plans to air the documentary in March.
Razavi said the soldier told them it took roughly two hours
for the request to reach the US officers who could authorise
it but the anonymous man is also quoted in the documentary as
saying: "There was a hesitation in command."
Razavi told Reuters several sources told them the sightings
were six months apart and they declined to be more specific.
French armed forces spokesperson Christophe Prazuck said "that
never happened" when asked about the Bin Laden sightings.
Bin Laden, the alleged mastermind behind the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, is believed to be hiding in the mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
France has roughly 200 elite troops operating under US
command near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan. Paris announced
on Sunday it was withdrawing them at the start of 2007.
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