Washington, Dec. 23 (ANI): Osama Bin Laden-controlled terrorists came within minutes of assassinating former US President Bill Clinton during his 1996 Philippines visit, a new book has revealed.
Clinton was saved shortly before his car was due to drive over a bridge in Manila where a bomb had been planted.
The attack came during Clinton's visit to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Manila in 1996.
He was scheduled to visit a local politician, his route taking him across a bridge in central Manila.
But as Clinton's motorcade was about to set off, secret service officers received a "crackly message in one earpiece" saying intelligence agents had picked up a message suggesting an attack was imminent.
The transmission used the words "bridge" and "wedding" - a terrorists code word for assassination.
The motorcade was quickly re-routed and American agents later discovered a bomb had been planted under the bridge.
Further investigation "revealed that it had been masterminded by a Saudi terrorist living in Afghanistan - a man named Osama bin Laden".
In The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs Starr, American law professor Ken Gormley wrote: "The thwarted assassination attempt was never made public. It remained top secret except to select members of the US intelligence community."
A spokesman for the Secret Service refused to comment on Prof Gorman's allegations.
Marisa Porges, a former government counter-terrorism advisor, said the assassination plot, if true, would suggest al Qaeda was more developed than some thought it was prior to 9/11". (ANI)
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