A plot by terror chief Osama bin Laden to attack Britain has been revealed in newly-released top secret files.

The shocking revelation emerged in a trove of documents released by CIA director John Ratcliffe to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks.

Nearly 3,000 people, including 67 British citizens, died in the attack on the US. The spy agency said the files ‘give Americans a glimpse into our most sensitive intelligence from the years before and day after one of our nation’s darkest moments’.

The briefing notes for US president Bill Clinton dating from 1998 mention plans by Bin Laden to hijack planes, including the possibility that a group ‘may fly an explosive-packed airplane into a US city’.

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They also detail his anger after key supporters were arrested in London.

One of the documents dated August 28, 1998, said that Bin Laden, which the agency spells in the files as Bin Ladin, was looking to target the UK.

Referring to an American cruise missile strikes on al Qaida bases in Sudan and Afghanistan in retaliation for the earlier bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, it states: ‘Hours before the US missile strikes, Bin Ladin [redacted] was looking at options for further attacks against the US as well as the UK [redacted]. Bin Ladin did not indicate precise targets or timing.’

A further memo at the end of that year said: ‘We have strong indications that he would like to attack the US and allies such as the UK and Israel on their own soil.

‘If Bin Ladin judges these venues are too well defended, however, he will target US and allied interests in other areas of the world accessible to his network.’