Clinton aides attack 9/11 drama

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A US TV mini-series about the 9/11 terrorist attacks has been called "terribly wrong" by a group of former President Bill Clinton's ex-officials.

The group, which includes former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, wrote a letter to ABC saying the drama contained factual errors.

They admitted to not having seen The Path To 9/11, but said those close to the production had told them about it.

ABC said the group's criticisms of were "premature and irresponsible".

It added a final version had not yet been seen.

Accusation

The five-hour mini-series, starring Harvey Keitel, Patricia Heaton and Donnie Wahlberg, will air on Sunday and Monday in the US, to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the 11 September 2001 attacks.

The production is drawn from interviews and documents including the report from the September 11 commission.

The letter writers also include Clinton's National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, Clinton Foundation head Bruce Lindsey, the former president's adviser Douglas Band, and several other Democrats.

They object to the depiction of events which occured before Mr Clinton and his team left office in January 2001.

Actress Shirley Douglas plays Madeleine Albright in the series

"The content of this drama is factually and incontrovertibly inaccurate and ABC has a duty to fully correct all errors or pull the drama entirely," the letter reads.

"It is unconscionable to mislead the American public about one of the most horrendous tragedies our country has ever known," it continues.

Examples they cite include an alleged scene where Ms Albright is shown insisting on warning the Pakistani government before an air strike on Afghanistan.

"The scene as explained to me is false and defamatory," she wrote.

Defence

Mr Berger objected to a scene that he was told showed him refusing to authorise an attack on Osama Bin Laden despite the request from CIA officials.

Former President Bill Clinton said the series should "tell the truth"

"The fabrication of this scene cannot be justified under any reasonable definition of dramatic licence," he wrote.

ABC said in a statement said it wanted people to wait to see the programme before making a comment.

"For dramatic and narrative purposes, the movie contains fictionalised scenes, composite and representative characters and dialogue, and time compression," ABC said in its statement.

"We hope viewers will watch the entire broadcast of the finished film before forming an opinion about it."

Bill Clinton said he had not seen the series himself, but told reporters at a Democratic fundraising event in Arkansas: "They shouldn't have scenes that are directly contradicted by the findings of the 9/11 report."