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CIA releases bin Laden's diary
Story highlights
- The CIA said the release included bin Laden's journal
- It said some files unreleased would harm national security or contained copyrighted material
Washington (CNN)The CIA on Wednesday announced it released a massive tranche of files it said came from the Osama bin Laden raid in 2011.
Among them: the deceased al Qaeda founder's personal journal.
CIA
Director Mike Pompeo said the release "provides the opportunity for the
American people to gain further insights into the plans and workings of
this terrorist organization."
The
release came in accordance with a 2014 appropriations bill for
intelligence activity that required the Director of National
Intelligence to review documents obtained from the raid, and make the
files it declassified from the review available to the public.
Wednesday's
document dump is the latest addition to the public collection, dubbed
"bin Laden's bookshelf" by the DNI. The collection includes three
previous releases since May 2015.
In
addition to bin Laden's journal, the CIA said the release includes
thousands of other documents as well as al Qaeda's potential promotional
and planning materials.
According to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Long War Journal,
the release also contains other items of significance, including what
it determined are the first-known adult images of bin Laden's son Hamza
bin Laden and documents about al Qaeda's relationship with Iran and its
role in the Iraqi insurgency.
The
CIA said some of the files it had not released would harm national
security or contained copyrighted material, pornography and malware. The
agency said some of the copyrighted material it was withholding were
videos like the movie Cars as well as the documentary "Where in the
World is Osama bin Laden" and "CNN Presents: World's Most Wanted."
The
release on Wednesday came less than a week after President Donald
Trump's administration decided to release some but not all files
pertaining to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. A 1992 law mandated
all files had to come out by last Thursday, unless the President waived
some from release.
Trump went on to pledge to release all files "other than the names and addresses of any mentioned person who is still living."
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