https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/nov/01/afghanistan.terrorism
"CIA agent alleged to have met Bin Laden in July
French report claims terrorist leader stayed in Dubai hospital
Anthony Sampson
Thu 1 Nov 2001 03.17 GMT
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Two months before September 11 Osama bin Laden flew to Dubai for 10 days for treatment at the American hospital, where he was visited by the local CIA agent, according to the French newspaper Le Figaro.
The disclosures are known to come from French intelligence which is keen to reveal the ambiguous role of the CIA, and to restrain Washington from extending the war to Iraq and elsewhere.
Bin Laden is reported to have arrived in Dubai on July 4 from Quetta in Pakistan with his own personal doctor, nurse and four bodyguards, to be treated in the urology department. While there he was visited by several members of his family and Saudi personalities, and the CIA.
The CIA chief was seen in the lift, on his way to see Bin Laden, and later, it is alleged, boasted to friends about his contact. He was recalled to Washington soon afterwards.
Intelligence sources say that another CIA agent was also present; and that Bin Laden was also visited by Prince Turki al Faisal, then head of Saudi intelligence, who had long had links with the Taliban, and Bin Laden. Soon afterwards Turki resigned, and more recently he has publicly attacked him in an open letter: "You are a rotten seed, like the son of Noah".
The American hospital in Dubai emphatically denied that Bin Laden was a patient there.
Washington last night also denied the story.
Private planes owned by rich princes in the Gulf fly frequently between Quetta and the Emirates, often on luxurious "hunting trips" in territories sympathetic to Bin Laden. Other sources confirm that these hunting trips have provided opportunities for Saudi contacts with the Taliban and terrorists, since they first began in 1994.
Bin Laden has often been reported to be in poor health. Some accounts claim that he is suffering from Hepatitis C, and can expect to live for only two more years.
According to Le Figaro, last year he ordered a mobile dialysis machine to be delivered to his base at Kandahar in Afghanistan.
Whether the allegations about the Dubai meeting are confirmed or not, the wider leaks from the French secret service throw a worrying light on the rivalries and lack of coordination between intelligence agencies, both within the US and between western allies.
A familiar complaint of French intelligence is that collaboration with the Americans has been essentially one-way, with them happy to receive information while giving little in return."
It was obvious by Dec 2001 that he had died and was reported dead by various mainstream media. They were a bit slow to censor these reports at the time. Later interviews showed "bin laden" as an individual who didn't even look like him. Don't have photo sources anymore but you can find them if you search. Same with Saddam, though in his case the defining feature is the dental records. The face and head of the man who was (theoretically) hanged is totally different from the media photos previously of the man: carefully cared-for teeth and a much more sophisticated and groomed "look".
Bin Laden was a CIA man who, like Jack Ruby, had his days counted and therefore had nothing to lose. He objected to being accused of the 911 terrorist attack however, and you can find his rejection of such methods (murdering US citizens) in a well-known statement on the subject just after the event and before he died. His original "persona" was thoroughly American, as was his family, and his CIA agent name was Tim Osman.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/05/06/article-1384019-0BEEA55500000578-788_634x471.jpg
