• 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 expressing gratitude to the brothers for bearing what he described as the “heavy burden” of their “huge responsibility” for his safety. In another letter dated February 2, 2011, Bin Laden confirmed that the brothers had “for a long time demanded separation from us” and were “exhausted” by the arrangement. He agreed to retire from the task and hand over his concealment to others, with a planned move and changeover targeted for September 2011. The CIA notes that this relocation plan was entirely unknown to US intelligence at the time. Officials reviewing the compound believed the situation to be stable, unaware that Bin Laden’s departure was already being prepared. “Had the decision to conduct the raid been delayed, this story might have had a very different ending,” the CIA observed. The documents further reject the notion that Bin Laden had become merely a symbolic figure by the time of his death. The CIA states that he remained deeply involved in operational planning, providing strategic, operational, and tactical instructions to al-Qaeda. Far from being a figurehead, he remained in charge while in hiding, shaping the group’s direction, communications, and priorities. The path to Abbottabad began long before the raid itself.