The Clinton administration struggled to find a way to accept the offer in secret contacts that stretched from a meeting at an Arlington, Va., hotel on March 3, 1996, to a fax that closed the door on the effort 10 weeks later. Unable to persuade the Saudis to accept Mr. bin Laden and lacking a case to indict him in U.S. courts at the time, the Clinton administration finally gave up on the capture.

Sudan expelled Mr. bin Laden on May 18, 1996, to Afghanistan. From there, he is thought to have planned and financed the twin embassy bombings in Africa in 1998, the near-destruction of the USS Cole a year ago and last month's devastation in New York and Washington.

"Had we been able to roll up bin Laden then, it would have made a significant difference," said a U.S. official in counterterrorism.

"We probably never would have seen a September 11th."