Documents from the National Archives of the United Kingdom revealed that Britain supported a plan to kill Osama bin Laden, the former leader of Al-Qaeda, nine months before the September 11 terrorist attacks. The documents showed how the government of Tony Blair was supportive of striking bin Laden after the destruction of the USS Cole in 2000.

According to The Times newspaper, the British government endorsed the killing of bin Laden with an American strike, nine months before the September terrorist attacks that killed 3,000 people.

A senior Downing Street official told Tony Blair in December 2000: We are all in favor of striking bin Laden. Britain's initial approval to kill the al-Qaeda leader came in a briefing document that was presented to Blair before he had dinner with US President Bill Clinton, who was about to hand over the presidency to George W. Bush.

  Although bin Laden had not achieved the notoriety he gained after 9/11, he was already on the FBI's list of ten most wanted terrorists. He was believed to be behind the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and the suicide bombing of the USS Cole in October 2000.

  Q John Sawers, Blair's foreign affairs adviser and later head of MI6, wrote: The Americans have no evidence yet that bin Laden is responsible for the attack on the USS Cole. They won't strike until they have proof, and probably not until January 20th, when Bush becomes president.

  Sawers said Britain did not want to carry out air strikes during Blair's visit to the Gulf at the beginning of January, adding that British personnel in Pakistan could be potential targets for retaliation. "We would all like to hit Osama bin Laden, but we need a little media and a chance to influence the timing," he wrote.
Source: The Seventh Day website