Daily Mirror

Bin Laden planned to kill Prince Harry

Plot details found in 470,000 files released by CIA

- BY CHRISTOPHE­R BUCKTIN US Editor chris.bucktin@mirror.co.uk

OSAMA bin Laden plotted to kill Prince Harry and tracked his proposed movements in Iraq.

The plot was revealed yesterday when the CIA released 470,000 files found on bin Laden’s computer in the compound where he was killed by US special forces in 2011.

The al-Qaeda chief had downloaded news articles about the soldier prince’s planned deployment in the Middle East.

One was headlined “Prince Harry moves into the line of fire”. Another read “Prince Harry in Iraq could raise troops’ risk”.

Prince Harry was due to serve in Iraq in May 2007, but of f ici als changed their minds and he secretly served in Helmand, Afghanista­n, instead.

Bin Laden’s journal showed his hatred of the West began when he visited Britain as a teenager, and found it “a morally loose society”.

He wrote that he travelled to “the West” for an unspecifie­d “treatment” when he was in “sixth grade” aged 13. The next year, the teenager, who was the son of a billionair­e Saudi constructi­on tycoon, spent another 10 weeks in Britain “studying”. He describes visiting the home of William Shakespear­e in Stratford-upon-Avon every Sunday, and wrote: “I was not impressed and I saw they were a society different from ours and they were a morally loose society.” His trip to Warwickshi­re convinced bin Laden that the West was “decadent”. Director of the CIA Michael Pompeo said the release of the files gave “further insights into the plans and workings of this terrorist organisati­on”.

 ??  ?? COMPOUND Boys taught to fire at balloons
COMPOUND Boys taught to fire at balloons
 ??  ?? TARGET Bin Laden tracked movements of Prince Harry
TARGET Bin Laden tracked movements of Prince Harry
 ??  ?? THE SON Hamza in film of his wedding
THE SON Hamza in film of his wedding
 ??  ?? FAMILY Kids playing on slide in courtyard
FAMILY Kids playing on slide in courtyard

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