Though Clinton administration officials have repeatedly denied any responsibility for bin Laden's escape, the ex-president himself admitted he played a key role the blunder in a February 2002 speech, which was recorded exclusively by NewsMax.com.

"We'd been hearing that the Sudanese wanted America to start dealing with them again," he told a New York business group. "They released him. At the time, 1996, he had committed no crime against America so I did not bring him here because we had no basis on which to hold him, though we knew he wanted to commit crimes against America.

"So I pleaded with the Saudis to take him, 'cause they could have. But they thought it was a hot potato and they didn't and that's how he wound up in Afghanistan." [End of Excerpt]

The Times report, however, ignored the Clinton admission - as the paper has since NewsMax first reported it on Feb. 15, 2002.

Instead the paper notes: "Clinton administration diplomats have adamantly denied that they received such an offer, and the Sept. 11 commission concluded in one of its staff reports that it had 'not found any reliable evidence to support the Sudanese claim.'"

In his April 2004 testimony before the Commission, Mr. Clinton was confronted with his 2002 comments on the Sudanese offer.

Initially he claimed he had been misquoted, according 9/11 Commission member Bob Kerrey.

After being told that his remarks were on tape, however, the ex-president changed his story, saying instead that he had "misspoken" during the 2002 speech.

The newly declassified documents do not directly address the question of whether Sudan ever offered to turn over bin Laden, the Times noted. But they go well beyond previous news and historical accounts in detailing the Clinton administration's perception of the al-Qaida mastermind as a growing threat to U.S. national security interests.

The State Department documents describe Afghanistan as an "ideal haven" for bin Laden, that would "allow him considerable freedom to travel with little fear of being intercepted or tracked."

Bin Laden's public statements suggested an "emboldened" man capable of "increased terrorism," the State Department said.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told the Times that the new information "says to me that the Clinton administration knew the broad outlines in 1996 of bin Laden's capabilities and his intent, and unfortunately, almost nothing was done about it."

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