Report finds FBI missed multiple chances to stop 9/11

June 11, 2005 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) missed several opportunities to uncover and to possibly stop the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States, a report has found.

The agency did not respond to leads and failed to follow up a theory that al-Qaeda was sending its members to US-based flight schools, it said. The report by the United States Department of Justice's Inspector General said that mistakes amounted to a "significant failure".

The conclusions indicated in the report are similar to others, drawn up after investigations into US intelligence performance in the months and years leading up to the events that occurred on September 11, 2001.

The report is a year old -- but is only being released after a legal battle involving lawyers for Zacarias Moussaoui, who has been convicted of an al-Qaeda plot against the United States, but is currently fighting a possible death penalty.