A newly released U.S. Defense Department document indicates that al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden escaped capture at Tora Bora, Afghanistan, in December 2001.
The document appears to contradict the stated position of President Bush and retired U.S. Central Command Chief General Tommy Franks, both of whom have said that U.S. and Afghan forces did not know the al-Qaida leader's location when they attacked the Afghan cave complex.
The document is a summary of evidence against a terror suspect held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
A sentence in the document reads: "The detainee assisted in the escape of Osama bin Laden from Tora Bora."
Pentagon spokesman, Major Michael Shavers tells VOA that statements in these summaries are based on interrogations and intelligence. He says the statements have pretty good certainty behind them, but can not be construed as 100 percent fact.
Another spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel John Skinner says nothing has changed in the Pentagon's position that bin Laden's location was not clear at the time of the Tora Bora battle.
