SAN FRANCISCO, May 20: An Afghan aide to Osama bin Laden was paid nearly $50,000 to report on the Saudi dissident’s organization, Al Qaeda, and recently was asked to pose as a prisoner and go as an informant to the US detention centre for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.

The paper said that the Afghan, whose identity was not revealed because of security reasons, volunteered his services at the US Embassy in Islamabad, on Oct 16, 2000, just days after Al Qaeda operatives bombed the US destroyer Cole while it was docked in the port city of Aden, Yemen.

The Afghan had been a low-level aide in Osama’s camp for several years and had joined the renegade Saudi for meals and prayers. “In all, I saw Osama more than 100 times.” The paper said that over the next two years, the CIA paid the Afghan $500 to $1,000 a month for details about Al Qaeda operations, staff and infrastructure in Afghanistan.