9/11 team seeks 'Bin Laden' memo

The commission investigating the 9/11 attacks has asked the White House to declassify a memo sent to President Bush a month before the strikes. The memo, titled 'Bin Laden determined to attack the United States', was revealed in testimony by US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. She said the memo was an historical document, not an imminent warning. Ms Rice admitted intelligence weakness, but said there was no way to have prevented the attacks.

Within minutes of Ms Rice's testimony ending, the commission announced that the 6 August memo should, in its view, be declassified in full, "because it has been so much of the focus of the testimony and comment".

The BBC's Justin Webb, in Washington says the development makes it appear that President Bush's battles with the 10-person team are not over yet. Our correspondent says Democrats have joined the commission in demanding the declassification of the memo to Mr Bush, in the belief the document might prove he had in fact been negligent. But Republicans have dismissed the calls and some have expressed grave doubts about the commission itself, he adds.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3613037.stm