'Demon Eyes' Doll of Bin Laden Sells at Auction for $12,000

The prototype of a creepy doll of Osama Bin Laden, created by the CIA to turn the al-Qaida leader into a bogeyman for children, has sold at an auction for $12,000 (£7,585).

It fetched more than four times the reserve price of $2,500 (£1,597).

Created by GI Joe creator and Hasbro executive Daniel Levine, the dolls were created for a 2005 mission called Operation Devil Eyes.

The CIA aimed to distribute hundreds of the dolls to Afghan children, depicting the al-Qaida as a demon to make him into a figure of fear.

It was designed to have detachable heads, one of which was green with red eyes.

However the project was scrapped in its initial phases, with only three of the dolls ever made.

"To our knowledge, there were only three individual action figures ever created, and these were merely to show what a final product might look like," CIA spokesman Ryan Trapani said.

"After being presented with these examples, the CIA declined to pursue this idea and did not produce or distribute any of these action figures. Furthermore, CIA has no knowledge of these action figures being produced or distributed by others."

The auctioneers Nat D Sanders described the doll as "scarce and nearly unbelievable".

"The other two remain either at CIA headquarters or the Pentagon," they write by the item on their website.

"The doll's permanent head is a lookalike representation of Bin Laden, and comes with a removable head featuring a depiction of Bin Laden as a 'demon'.

"The removable head is a frightening representation of Bin Laden, with his face painted bright red with black facial features and bright green eyes."

It describes the doll as wearing "traditional Islamic garb, a white removable five button robe over a four-button white tunic with a mock collar, with off-white cloth pants and a pair of black mock velcro boots."

The successful bidder, who lives in the USA, chose to remain anonymous.