U.S. Interrogators Learn al-Kuwaiti's Real Name

“We knew that it was likely that if we were ever to get Osama bin Laden, it would be because we somehow came upon somebody closely associated with him that he trusted,” said Charles D. Stimson, the top Pentagon official on detainee affairs from 2004 to 2007.

The senior administration official told reporters on Sunday that "for years, we were unable to identify his true name or his location." It took until "four years ago" -- 2007, then -- for intelligence officials to learn al-Kuwaiti's real name.

In 2007, U.S. officials who were interrogating Guantanamo detainees finally learned the real name of a former Khalid Sheikh Muhammad protégé who had become an important confidante of Abu Faraj al Libi. Al Libi was captured in 2005 and also taken to Guantanamo.