CIA helped makers of Osama bin Laden film: report

WASHINGTON: In the months after the US covert mission that killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pentagon officials met with Hollywood filmmakers and gave them special access in an effort to influence the creation of a film about the operation, newly released documents show.

A latest report published in Los Angeles Times said: "Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal, who won Oscars for their 2009 Iraq war movie, "The Hurt Locker," were granted access to a Navy SEAL who was involved in planning the May 2011 raid, according to a transcript of a meeting that took place in July."

Emails and meeting transcripts obtained from the Pentagon and CIA through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch suggest that officials went out of their way to assist the filmmakers, while trying to keep their cooperation from becoming public.

Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal, who won Oscars for their 2009 Iraq war movie, "The Hurt Locker," were granted access to a Navy SEAL who was involved in planning the May 2011 raid, according to a transcript of a meeting that took place in July.

"The only thing we ask is that you not reveal his name in any way as a consultant because ... he shouldn't be talking out of school," Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers told the filmmakers. Vickers later added: "This at least gives him one step removed and he knows what he can and can't say, but this way at least he can be as open as he can with you and it ought to meet your needs."

The name of the "planner, SEAL Team 6 operator and commander," was redacted from the documents that were provided to Judicial Watch.