London: An alleged assassination attempt on al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden by the United States has been thwarted.
Abu Al-Fatah, an al Qaeda operative, claimed that bin Laden had foiled a mission carried out by American forces to track his hideout.
He said that a USB stick containing interview questions sent to the al Qaeda chief contained a tiny tracking beacon.
Its signals would have helped the US target his location with an unmanned drone attack.
Al-Fatah said that the chip was discovered when bin Laden’s security scanned the USB stick.
“The US forces used a device that could transmit signals to a satellite for conducting an air strike on bin Laden. They discovered a 5mm chip in a USB device meant to reach our leader for an interview,” the Sun quoted Al-Fatah, as saying.
The al Qaeda chief’s hideout is thought to be in the mountain border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
ANI
First Published: Thursday, February 10, 2011, 12:28