Discovery to air special on the hunt for Bin Laden

MUMBAI: It was shortly after midnight on 2 May 2011 when the search for the world?s most hunted felon finally came to an end.

Now on 28 April at 8 pm infotainment broadcaster Discovery Channel will air the special ?Osama Bin Laden: The Finish?. This is the inside story of one of the biggest and most arduous manhunts in history.

It is based on author Mark Bowden?s research book ?The Finish: The Killing of Osama Bin Laden?- that features an exclusive interview with US President Barack Obama, rare access to the White House and first-hand reporting. The special provides an account of the step-by-step developments that led to finally tracking down the world?s most wanted man.

After masterminding the terrorist attacks against the US on 11 September 2001, Osama bin Laden vanished. Over the course of the next decade, America discovered that its war with al-Qaeda - a scattered group of individuals who were almost impossible to track - required a more innovative approach. The special begins by looking at the tragic 2009 suicide bombing by a Jordanian triple agent which killed 10 people, including Jennifer Matthews, a mother of three and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative leading the hunt for Osama. Through access to military and agency sources, the special takes viewers on the ground where the action unfolded and inside the rooms where high-level decisions were made.

The special has been filmed on location in Jordan, Afghanistan and Pakistan and gives viewers a look at the top-secret strategies employed to complete the mission and President Obama?s campaign promise - to get Osama Bin Laden. The special also sheds light on how intelligence agencies utilise special operations to gather information to find al-Qaeda and Taliban targets.