David Davis, the former Conservative shadow home secretary, said how a row between the CIA and FBI could have prevented them from uncovering the 9/11 terrorist plot, the Daily Telegraph reported.

He said that American authorities had "sealed" a case in a US court relating to a dispute between two British businessmen and an Afghan billionaire Ehsan Bayat over the setting up of a mobile phone network in Afghanistan in the late 1990s.

According to reports, US intelligence agencies had privately backed the venture, hoping to be able to monitor calls made over the new network. Mr Bayat was an FBI informer, Mr Davis said.

"We cannot say for certain that if US intelligence agencies had tapped the Afghan phone network sooner, we would have intercepted evidence in time to stop the 9/11 attacks. But it seems likely," Mr Davis said. "It looks like a huge opportunity was missed."

(China.org.cn March 30, 2012)

据英国《每日电讯报》报道，英国保守党前任影子内政大臣戴维·戴维斯近日透露，由于中央情报局和美国联邦调查局发生了分歧，导致美国政府未能揭露9·11恐怖袭击的阴谋。

他表示，上世纪90年代，两名英国商人和阿富汗亿万富翁艾山·巴亚特在阿富汗共同投资建立了一家电信公司。此后，双方发生争执，美国法院受理了这起案件。但是美国当局却将这起案件的内容“隐藏”起来。

据透露，该公司获得了美国情报机构的秘密支持。美方希望可以对阿富汗国内的电话通讯进行监控。戴维斯称，艾山·巴亚特是美国联邦调查局的线人。

“我们不能确定，如果美国情报机构能早点开始监控阿富汗电话通讯，就一定可以及时阻止9·11袭击的发生。但事实是，美国的确错过了阻止袭击的大好机会。”戴维说。