The head of Germany's intelligence agency says Osama bin Laden bribed Afghan militias for his freedom when he was cornered in Tora Bora in November, 2001.
In an interview with a German newspaper published Tuesday, August Hanning said the United States had made a "principal mistake" by relying on Afghan militias to hunt down bin Laden.
He said failing to quickly capture him has allowed the terrorist leader to gain friends among local tribes and to "create his own infrastructure in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area."
There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon.
Last month a U.S. Defense Department document indicated that the al-Qaida chief escaped capture at Tora Bora. U.S. officials have said they were not certain of bin Laden's whereabouts during the 2001 standoff at the Afghan cave complex.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
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