Bush to Limit Interview with 9/11 Panel to an Hour

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<Snip>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The panel investigating the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States will get one hour to ask President Bush (news - web sites) what he knew about events leading up to the suicide airline hijackings, the White House said on Friday.

"They are looking at an hour as you pointed out," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said when asked by a reporter whether he could confirm reports that Bush was limiting the meeting to an hour.


Rather than sitting down with all 10 members of the so-called 9/11 commission, Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) have only agreed to meet privately with its chairman, Thomas Kean, and the vice chairman, Lee Hamilton.

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Created by the U.S. Congress, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States is charged with examining lapses in intelligence and national security in the months before the attacks. Strikes by hijacked airplanes on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (news - web sites) killed about 3,000 people.

The panel has expressed concern that it will not have enough time to gather all the information it needs to meet a May 27 deadline to complete its report.