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CIA says used actual hepatitis vaccine
WASHINGTON: US officials have defended a tactic used by the CIA to attempt to verify the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden - the covert creation of a vaccine program in Abbottabad.
The vaccine drive was conducted shortly before the raid in early May on bin Laden's compound, officials said, and was overseen by a Pakistani doctor who traveled to Abbottabad.
A senior US official said the campaign involved actual hepatitis vaccine and should not be construed as a "fake public health effort."
"People need to put this into some perspective," said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. "The vaccination campaign was part of the hunt for the world's top terrorist, and nothing else. If the United States hadn't shown this kind of creativity, people would be scratching their heads asking why it hadn't used all tools at its disposal to find bin Laden."
Courtesy www.geo.tv