Osama facts: What saved the world's most wanted terrorist for so long

Islamabad: It was not just his plain luck but also planning that kept Osama bin Laden, the world’s most wanted terrorist, undetected in Pakistan from the prying eyes of top intelligence sleuths and American satellites.

Following are some of the interesting compilations from the Abbottabad Commission report leaked by Al Jazeera news channel as to how world’s dreaded terrorist planned his 10-year undetected stay in the garrison city of Pakistan.

1. Osama, whose Abbottabad abode was bought on fake documents, did not pay property taxes and flouted local building regulations.

The property was bought using a fake national ID card and the third floor was built illegally and the occupants did not pay taxes. The report says: “Either OBL was extremely fortunate to not run into anyone (committed) to doing his job honestly, or there was complete collapse of local governance.

2. Osama was fully aware of the need to hide from US spy satellites.

Much has been reported about the difficulty the CIA had in determining whether the tall man pacing around the compound was the al-Qaeda chief.

It now is clear that the difficulty was because Osama was in the habit of standing under a grape trellis. One of his wives, who survived the attack on the compound and was interviewed by the commission, revealed another technique: he wore a wide-brimmed cowboy hat when outside.

3. A traffic policeman in Swat could have ended the hunt for Osama in 2002 itself had he not “quickly settled the matter”, when he pulled over a car for over-speeding, carrying a clean-shaved Osama.

4. Osama was a man of frugal tastes. Before coming to Abbottabad, he had just six pairs of Salwar Kameez.

5. Pakistan suffers from “governance implosion syndrome”.

6. For the children within the compound, life was one of simple pleasures.

Osama liked to entertain his grandchildren. Since the children were never allowed to leave the premises of the house, he tried to entertain his grandchildren by encouraging them to compete against each other in tending their vegetable patches.

When the one child recognised from TV that the “poor uncle” who lived upstairs was world’s most wanted man, she could not watch television anymore.

7. Abbottabad is home to soldiers and terrorists. Yes, the garrison town is home not just to many soldiers but also terrorists. One resident told the commission that the town was free of terrorist attacks precisely because so many militant families lived there, the Guardian reported.

A house belonging to Abu Faraj al-Libi, a senior al-Qaeda commander, was raided less than a mile from Osama’s compound, the report said.

Umar Patek, one of the Bali bombers, was caught in Abbottabad in January 2011. The report says it is very likely that he was helped by the same al-Qaeda network that assisted Osama, and his interrogation should have turned up “actionable intelligence”.

8. The CIA was very active in Abbottabad and “ground assets” are suspected. “Suspicious activities” included the cutting down of trees to clear the approach of the helicopters and the renting of a nearby house for people supposedly working for an NGO.

PTI