“The CIA thought it had its best chance yet to strike at [al-Qaida second-in-command Ayman] al-Zawahri last year [2009] when a doctor working with Jordanian intelligence claimed to offer new details suggesting the terrorist leader suffered from diabetes. The former and current U.S. officials said there were already indications al-Zawahri might have the disease. CIA officers began working with the informant, Humam al-Balawi, believing the doctor might gain access to al-Zawahri for medical reasons, the former officials said. When al-Balawi was taken to meet with CIA officials at a secret base in Khost, in eastern Afghanistan, last Dec. 30 [2009], the double agent detonated hidden explosives as the officials neared him.” Seven CIA agents were killed.
– Adam Goldman and Kathy Gannon, “AP Exclusive: Close Calls for Al Qaeda’s No. 2,” Associated Press, Nov. 29, 2010