Washington, Dec. 23 : Osama Bin Laden-controlled terrorists came within minutes of assassinating former US President Bill Clinton during his 1996 Philippines visit, a new book has revealed.

Clinton was saved shortly before his car was due to drive over a bridge in Manila where a bomb had been planted.

The attack came during Clinton''s visit to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Manila in 1996.

He was scheduled to visit a local politician, his route taking him across a bridge in central Manila.

But as Clinton’s motorcade was about to set off, secret service officers received a "crackly message in one earpiece" saying intelligence agents had picked up a message suggesting an attack was imminent.

The transmission used the words "bridge" and "wedding" – a terrorists code word for assassination.

The motorcade was quickly re-routed and American agents later discovered a bomb had been planted under the bridge.

Further investigation "revealed that it had been masterminded by a Saudi terrorist living in Afghanistan – a man named Osama bin Laden".

In The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs Starr, American law professor Ken Gormley wrote: "The thwarted assassination attempt was never made public. It remained top secret except to select members of the US intelligence community."

A spokesman for the Secret Service refused to comment on Prof Gorman''s allegations.

Marisa Porges, a former government counter-terrorism advisor, said the assassination plot, if true, would suggest al Qaeda was more developed than some thought it was prior to 9/11”. (ANI)