Bin Laden bent on spectacular US attack until the end

Washington

The CIA has declassified an Al-Qaeda recruitment form and around 100 other documents from Bin Laden's archive yesterday, allowing an insight into his thinking in his final years. The documents were among intelligence materials seized by US commandos on May 2, 2011 after they stormed Bin Laden's hideout in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad and shot him dead.

 The documents shed new light on the mindset of Al-Qaeda's founder, his debates over tactics, his anxiety over Western spying and his fixation with the group's media image.

 Hunkered down in his Pakistani compound, Osama bin Laden pleaded with his followers to stay focused on attacking the United States instead of being dragged into Muslim infighting.

 "The focus should be on killing and fighting the American people and their representatives," the late Al-Qaeda figurehead wrote.

 Jeff Anchukaitis, spokesman for the office, said the release of "a sizeable tranche of documents" was in line with President Barack Obama's call for "increased transparency."

 It was also in accordance with a law obliging the spy agencies to review all the Bin Laden material for possible release, he said.

 The documents released are English translations of the originals. The release came shortly after US journalist Seymour Hersh alleged that Washington's official account of the hunt for Bin Laden and the raid that led to his death was a lie.

 But CIA spokesman Ryan Trapani said the declassification had been planned for at least a year and had not been intended as a response to Hersh's report.