The American television network, ABC, aired its controversial mini-series about the build-up to the September 11 attacks last night, but only after issuing three disclaimers that the drama was fictional and editing scenes that had attracted the wrath of Bill Clinton and members of his administration.

The broadcasting of The Path to 9/11, a five-hour mini-series scheduled to conclude tonight, was described as "despicable" last week by Mr Clinton's office after an early copy of the series portrayed the former president as too distracted by the Monica Lewinsky scandal to focus on hunting for Osama bin Laden.

The version of the film given to reviewers emphasised that it was based on the findings of the 9/11 Commission report and suggested that the Clinton White House directly interfered with attempts to kill bin Laden, who later went on to direct the attacks.

Last week, the former US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, the former National Security Adviser, Samuel "Sandy" Berger, and the head of the Clinton Foundation, Bruce Lindsey, wrote to Robert Iger, the chief of executive of Disney, which owns ABC, asking him to cancel the show. Harvey Keitel, one of the stars of the $40 million production, also said it should be re-edited.

Last night that pressure appeared to have had an effect: several controversial scenes had been edited and some had been removed altogether. A disclaimer reminded viewers three times that they were watching a fictionalised rather than a historical account of the years before the attacks.

"For dramatic and narrative purposes the movie contains fictionalized scenes, composite and representative characters and dialogue, as well as time compression," the disclaimer read.

One scene that had drawn the particular anger of Mr Clinton and former members of his administration had shown the White House's anti-terrorism chief, Richard Clarke, telling John O’Neill, the FBI agent in charge of the hunt for bin Laden, that the Monica Lewinsky affair would prevent any order to kill the leader of al-Qaeda.

But last night, the film showed Clarke telling O'Neill, who was played by Keitel: "The president has assured me this... won’t affect his decision-making."

Another scene showing Mr Berger hanging up on Clarke when he asked permission to attack bin Laden's base was removed from the series completely. Footage of special forces soldiers poised to kill bin Laden before being called off by the White House was also heavily edited.

Although politicians from both the Democratic and Republican parties have criticised the mini-series, it split the 9/11 Commission, appointed to investigate the run-to the attacks, largely along party lines.

Thomas Kean, the Republican head of the commission, worked as a consultant for ABC and urged Americans to watch the film.

John Lehman, another Republican commission member, said the film was as critical of the administrations of George Bush and his father, George H W Bush, as it was of Mr Clinton.

"If you don’t like the hits to the Clinton administration, well, welcome to the club," he said. "The Republicans have lived with Michael Moore and Oliver Stone and most of Hollywood as a fact of life."

But Jamie Gorelick, a deputy attorney general under Mr Clinton and a Democratic member of the commission, said the film could undo the work of those who tried to compile an accurate account of the atrocity.

"We laboured for 20 months to get this right. And to have someone come along and rewrite that history... will lead us in the wrong direction," she told ABC.

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