Senators seek CIA input on Osama film
WASHINGTON, Jan 4: Three US senators are demanding that the CIA provide details on the spy agency’s cooperation with the director of Zero Dark Thirty, Hollywood’s take on the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
In letters sent to acting CIA director Michael Morell and released on Thursday, the lawmakers express concern that the film wrongly implies that torture yielded information that played a key role in tracking down the Al Qaeda leader.
Directed by Academy Award-winning Kathryn Bigelow, the movie tells the story of the decade-long search for Bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks, climaxing in the dramatic, deadly raid in May 2011 on his hideout in Abbottabad.
Set to open in most US theatres on Jan 11 and generating major Oscar buzz, Zero Dark Thirty begins with a scene showing the torture of detainees, who eventually provide critical information for locating Bin Laden.—AFP