We were fighting with al Qaeda and the most wanted person in the world was living in our country.
LAHORE: Pakistani authorities have demolished the compound in Abbottabad where al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was staying for several years. However, anyone who thinks that this will somehow take away from the ignominious fact that his presence in the garrison town went undetected for so many years, should think again.
We were fighting with al Qaeda and the most wanted person in the world was living in our country, so close to the capital and a stone’s throw from the Pakistan Military Academy. Also, if I remember correctly, it was Pervez Musharraf who had claimed that bin Laden had in all likelihood died because he suffered from a kidney ailment and needed regular dialysis.
In any case, I am not sure what purpose the demolition will serve. The building could have been preserved and marketed as a visiting place of sorts to western, especially American, tourists.
ST Hussain
Published in The Express Tribune, February 29th, 2012.
