Israel 'tried to kill bin Laden in 1996'
Israeli intelligence was close to assassinating al Qaida founder Osama bin Laden in 1996, five years before the deadly attacks in New York and Washington, an Israeli newspaper reported today.
The Yediot Ahronot daily said Israeli intelligence was helping investigate an attempted assassination of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia and came across a group of radicals based in Sudan and led by bin Laden.
The paper said Israeli intelligence, co-operating with another country, persuaded a confidante of bin Laden to kill him, but the operation was derailed by a crisis between Israel and the Palestinians that disrupted the link between Israeli intelligence and the foreign service.
Israeli officials refused to comment on the brief report.
The paper said the full story would be published tomorrow in its weekend magazine section.
