Bin Laden | Pakistan

• Al Qaeda leader had agreed in writing to relocate by September 2011 • Two brothers sheltering him sought separation, citing exhaustion • Agency claims to be entirely unaware of the relocation plan, says delayed raid would have missed the opportunity WASHINGTON: A decade after the operation that killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, a fresh Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) account reveals that the Al Qaeda leader nearly slipped out of his hideout months before the US raid. The CIA’s official record, updated with newly posted documents and released on Friday, shows that Bin Laden was actively planning to leave his hideout in Abbottabad months before the American operation, while simultaneously continuing to direct al-Qaeda operations from within the compound. According to letters recovered from the compound, Bin Laden had agreed in writing to a relocation plan after sustained pressure from the two brothers who had sheltered him for years. On Jan 14, 2011, he wrote a formal letter acknowledging tensions and e...