WASHINGTON, March 24: The United States had Osama bin Laden in its sights at least three times after the 1998 US embassy bombings in Africa, but each time balked at launching strikes to kill him, a US commission said on Tuesday.

Doubts about the veracity of the intelligence, fears over killing civilians, and worries over alienating allies in the region were cited by policymakers as reasons for not acting, according to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.

"Each time the munitions and the people were spun up, they were called off because the word came back: We're not sure - we're not quite sure," former US defense secretary William Cohen told the commission at a hearing here.

"In one instance, there was an identification that somehow we had (Osama) bin Laden in our sights. Turned out it was a sheikh from UAE," he said. "There was another consideration of shooting down an aircraft that might be carrying (Osama) bin Laden, should he try to escape. That also proved to be reversed by the intelligence community saying we don't think we have him," he said.

The commission, however, reported that a CIA field officer believes that the episode involving the UAE sheikh was a lost opportunity to kill Osama before the Sept 11 attacks.

In a report on its initial findings, the commission disclosed three occasions in which Osama was in US sights, and a fourth that is still under investigation.

They occurred in the months after the Aug 11, 1998, bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salam, the report said. The Pentagon had launched cruise missiles at a training camp in Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden was believed to be meeting other leaders on Aug 20, but failed to kill him.

In Dec 1998, the United States readied a new set of strikes after receiving intelligence that Osama bin Laden was staying at a particular location in Kandahar, the report said. But then-president Bill Clinton's top advisers recommended against the strike, it said. -AFP