PARIS (IPS)�Under the influence of U.S. oil companies, the government of George W. Bush initially blocked U.S. Secret Service investigations on terrorism, while it bargained with the Taliban the delivery of Osama bin Laden in exchange for political recognition and economic aid, two French intelligence analysts claim.

In the book "Bin Laden, la verite interdite�� ("Bin Laden, the forbidden truth��), the authors, Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie, reveal that the FBI deputy director John O�Neill resigned in July in protest over the obstruction.

Mr. Brisard claims Mr. O�Neill told them "the main obstacles to investigate Islamic terrorism were U.S. oil corporate interests and the role played by Saudi Arabia in it."

The two claim the U.S. government�s main objective in Afghanistan was to consolidate the position of the Taliban regime to obtain access to the oil and gas reserves in Central Asia.

They affirm that until August, the U.S. government saw the Taliban regime "as a source of stability in Central Asia that would enable the construction of an oil pipeline across Central Asia," from the rich oilfields in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, through Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the Indian Ocean. Until now, says the book, "the oil and gas reserves of Central Asia have been controlled by Russia. The Bush government wanted to change all that."

But, confronted with Taliban�s refusal to accept U.S. conditions, "this rationale of energy security changed into a military one," the authors claim.

"At one moment during the negotiations, the U.S. representatives told the Taliban, �either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs,� " Mr. Brisard said in an interview in Paris.

According to the book, the Bush administration began to negotiate with the Taliban immediately after coming into power in February. U.S. and Taliban diplomatic representatives met several times in Washington, Berlin and Islamabad.

To polish their image in the United States, the Taliban even employed a U.S. expert on public relations, Laila Helms. The authors claim that Ms. Helms also an expert in the works of U.S. secret services, for her uncle, Richard Helms, is a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

The last meeting between U.S. and Taliban representatives took place in August, five weeks before the attacks on New York and Washington, the analysts maintain.

On that occasion, Christina Rocca, in charge of Central Asian affairs for the U.S. government, met the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan in Islamabad.

Authors Brisard and Dasquie have long experience in intelligence analysis. Mr. Brisard was until the late 1990s director of economic analysis and strategy for Vivendi, a French company. He also worked for French secret services, and wrote for them in 1997 a report on the now famous al Qaeda network, headed by Mr. bin Laden.

Mr. Dasquie is an investigative journalist and publisher of Intelligence Online, a respected newsletter on diplomacy, economic analysis and strategy, available through the Internet.

The authors draw a portrait of closest aides to President Bush, linking them to oil business.

The Bush family has a strong oil background. So have some of his top aides. From the U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, through the director of the National Security Council Condoleezza Rice, to the ministers of Commerce and Energy, Donald Evans and Stanley Abraham, all have long worked for U.S. oil companies.

Mr. Cheney was until the end of last year president of Halliburton, a company that provides services for the oil industry; Ms. Rice was between 1991 and 2000 manager for Chevron; Mr. Evans and Mr. Abraham worked for Tom Brown, another oil giant.

Besides the secret negotiations held between Washington and Kabul and the importance of the oil industry, the book takes issue with the role played by Saudi Arabia in fostering Islamic fundamentalism, in the personality of Mr. bin Laden, and with the networks that the Saudi dissident built to finance his activities.

Authors Brisard and Dasquie challenge the U.S. government�s claim that it had been prosecuting Mr. bin Laden since 1998. "Actually,�� Mr. Dasquie said, "the first state to officially prosecute bin Laden was Libya, on the charges of terrorism."

"Bin Laden wanted to settle in Libya in the early 1990s, but was hindered by the government of Muammar Gadhafi," Mr. Dasquie claims. "Enraged by Libya�s refusal, bin Laden organized attacks inside Libya, including assassination attempts against Gadhafi."

Mr. Dasquie singles out one group, the Islamic Fighting Group (IFG), reputedly the most powerful Libyan dissident organization, based in London, and directly linked with Mr. bin Laden.

"Gadhafi even demanded Western police institutions, such as Interpol, to pursue the IFG and bin Laden, but never obtained cooperation,�� Mr. Dasquie says. "Until today, members of IFG openly live in London.��

The book confirms earlier reports that the U.S. government worked closely with the United Nations during the negotiations with the Taliban.

"Representatives of the U.S. government and Russia, and the six countries that border Afghanistan were present at these meetings," it says. "Sometimes, representatives of the Taliban also sat around the table."

These meetings, also called "6+2" because of the number of states (six neighbors plus U.S. and Russia) involved, have been confirmed by Naif Naik, former Pakistani Minister for Foreign Affairs.

In a French television news program, Mr. Naik said during a "6+2" meeting in Berlin in July, the discussions turned around "the formation of a government of national unity. If the Taliban had accepted this coalition, they would have immediately received international economic aid."

"And the pipe lines from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan would have come," he added.

Mr. Naik also claimed that Tom Simons, the U.S. representative at these meetings, openly threatened the Taliban and Pakistan.

"Simons said, �either the Taliban behave as they ought to, or Pakistan convinces them to do so, or we will use another option.� The words Simons used were �a military operation�," Mr. Naik claimed.