Clinton aides call for 9/11 film to be dropped

The ABC television network has agreed to minor revisions of a film about events leading up to the 9/11 attacks after former officials in the Clinton administration said it misrepresented what happened.

The company, owned by Disney, has resisted calls for the six-hour TV drama, The Path to 9/11, starring Harvey Keitel, to be cancelled. "No one has seen the final version of the film, because the editing process is not yet complete, so criticisms of film specifics are premature and irresponsible," it said.

Complainants include the former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and the former national security adviser Sandy Berger. A spokesman for Mr Clinton said ABC's plan to show the film in spite of errors was "despicable".

Ms Albright says a scene depicting her insisting that Washington should warn Pakistan before an attack on Afghanistan was wrong. Mr Berger was angered by dialogue showing him refusing to act on a CIA recommendation that he move to capture Osama bin Laden. "The fabrication of this scene cannot be justified under any reasonable definition of dramatic licence," he complained.

Thomas Kean, the Republican who chaired the 9/11 Commission which investigated the attacks and also co-produced the drama, said the film was "true to the spirit of 9/11".