Our best option was to not to say anything. But staying silent on the matter has not helped the ghost of Bin Laden leave the town. What was on Bin Laden's bookshelf? The implications of that night resonated well beyond this neighbourhood.
Would Bin Laden be turning in his grave over the way al-Qaeda has gone? Could he have changed things? It has been increasingly overshadowed by the so-called Islamic State in many parts of Africa and the Middle East. In the Afghanistan-Pakistan region - which is the original birthplace of militant Islam - al-Qaeda continues to have links with local groups but appears to be more of one-among-equals now. Many say that al-Qaeda is more decentralised, with regional groups acting independently of the central leadership.
This could be partly because the leaders are not as militarily experienced, ideologically articulate or charismatic as Bin Laden was, and hence cannot inspire the same loyalty.
But it could also simply be the changed security environment. In pictures: Osama Bin Laden's life. Bin Laden files: Seven things we learned. It was the fact that Bin Laden's home was spitting distance from a prime military academy that led to speculation about the lack of, or the extent of, Pakistani complicity.
It has been a huge embarrassment for the Pakistani military, which literally runs the country's security policy - and so the response of officials has been silence. They have also kept tight vigil over those connected to the compound to prevent them from passing on any information to the media or "foreign agents disguised as journalists", as one official put it. Pakistani and US officials have publicly said that Pakistani authorities were not aware of Bin Laden's presence in Abbottabad, but many have contrary views.
American journalist Seymour Hersch argues Bin Laden had been in Pakistani custody since and was killed after the country struck a deal with US. Part of his argument is the ability of US helicopters to fly nearly km over Pakistani territory to get Bin Laden, and fly back, without being interrupted.
If true, then this "prisoner" also had enough freedom to travel around in the tribal region until as late as May , as the BBC discovered on good authority. Official circles and independent analysts here say that while the Pakistani government could not possibly have had any knowledge of Bin Laden's whereabouts, that a handful of top officials in some powerful quarters may have known cannot be ruled out.
Either way, the events of a small block of this mountain town five years ago not only changed the lives of those unlucky enough to be his neighbours, but also marked a moment with massive implications for the world as we know it. Image source, Reuters.
Bin Laden's compound in , before it was completely demolished. It is a precarious life next to the razed Bin Laden home. Bin Laden's drinking water is now used by his neighbours. A shameful past - failure of intelligence OBL should have been found and killed much earlier. No room for killers of innocent in Islam or any other religion. Sam Sohail. What a shame!!! Khaqan Khan. The American legacy should be the title. They made him, empowered him and killed him. Well done USA. You completed your job.
Dr Asif. It reminds you of by George Orwell where it is not what it seems. Amna Shehzad. Apr 28, pm. No one will ever know if he was even ever a living person..
While evading authorities, the fugitive leader released a number of pre-recorded videos to followers.
Practice reels were discovered in the compound. His four youngest children were under the age of 10 at the time of his death. According to Reuters , "the pornography recovered in the Abbottabad compound consists of modern, electronically recorded video and is fairly extensive.
Osama bin Laden, the subject of thousands of news articles and multiple documentaries, apparently had an avid curiosity about his public image. For five years, he had concealed himself and his extended family—wives, children and grandchildren—in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, but now it appeared that his carefully constructed hideaway was coming apart.
His longtime bodyguards were two brothers, members of al Qaeda whose family originated nearby. They did everything for bin Laden, from shopping in the local markets to hand delivering his lengthy memos to other leaders of al Qaeda. Things got so bad that on January 15, he wrote a formal letter to them, despite the fact that they all lived together, acknowledging how angry they were with him and begging them to give him time to find new protectors and a new hideout the compound was registered in the name of one of the brothers.
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