HS visits Pakistani city where Osama bin Laden lived

Abbottabad was an idyllic tourist and university town until the terrorist leader was found there

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By Tommi Nieminen in Abbottabad
     
      In the Orash Valley, in the east of the tribal area of Pakistan, between the mountains and the famous Karakoram highway lies Abbottabad, a city of a few hundred thousand people. The world’s most wanted man, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, lived here for about five years, until US special forces shot him like a dog in his home early on May 2nd.
      It seems incredible.
     
The last city where Osama lived is almost idyllic, with a slight resemblance to Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland.
      Both are transit towns, where people tank up their vehicles and buy food for a trip before continuing their journey to holiday resorts further north. At the Shell station in Abbottabad, they sell almost the same snacks, condoms, and ready-made meals as one might find at an equivalent shop in Finland. The population has a lower average age, a higher average literacy rate than the rest of the country, and students who even come from abroad.
      The hostel would be full of backpackers if this were not Pakistan. But it is, and they don’t. The atmosphere is quite tense. Abbottabad is xenophobic and paranoid.
     
“You are ruining Pakistan.”
      A middle-aged man who runs an electronics store at the Gohar shopping mall stares in a sullen manner because he does not like American journalists. The fact that I am actually a Finn means little.
      “The thinking here is that all foreigners are American journalists”, he says. “Everyone here is against the Americans. Is it good if I come to your house and start killing people?”
     
The electronics merchant does not believe the news about Osama. “I know who lived in that house. They went shopping in my shop”, he said. “They are innocent people.”
      He does not want his name to be published, but he is glad to tell us his theory. He believes that Abbottabad was attacked by Jews.
      “When the WTC towers were attacked on September 11th, not a single Jew was there, although they own the building. The Jews attacked to give America a pretext to attack here.”
     
The theory is not all that rare in Abbottabad.
      On the night between the first and second of May five US military helicopters took off from Jalalabad in Afghanistan, and set a course to Bin Laden’s house in the Hasmi Colony suburb of Abbottabad. The surprise attack ended with the deaths of Osama and four other people. Osama’s body was photographed and taken away.
      The Americans left Abbottabad in less than an hour. City dwellers learned about the news flash of all time in the morning when President Barack Obama announced it on television.
     
Now the events keep people up at night in Abbottabad. Conspiracy theories circulate as men sit drinking tea. Some suspect a worldwide conspiracy, while others say it was the work of the Pakistani intelligence service ISI.
      Everyone wants to see pictures of Osama’s body. “Nobody knows the reason for the attack”, says Muhammad Munir, a 22-year-old fruit merchant. “We have not heard that Osama would live here.”
      “It’s fifty-fifty whether or not he lived here”, says 24-year-old Shajid Akram at the Yum Bakery.
     
The bin Ladens’ house is in an upper middle class area of the Hashmi Colony. There are new cars in front of the houses, the yards are kept well.
      Three police officers close the road, as foreigners are no longer being granted access to the house.
      Hashmi Colony is not on the outskirts of Abbottabad, it is inside the city. Osama’s house is only 100 metres away from the other houses. He wanted to live in the midst of action in spite of the risks.
      The bin Ladens are believed to have moved to Abbottabad in 2006.
     
Something in Abbottabad is reminiscent of a small town in the United States. The city is called the “Home of Piffers”, and “Hume of Falcons”. The former is a reference to the border guard, and the latter is a cricket team. Still there are few cities where anti-Americanism would run as deep as it does in Abbottabad.
      The director of a Christian hospital is alarmed when we step into his room without warning. He says that he does not want to be seen in the company of foreigners, as that could bring problems.
      Interviews with wary residents need to take place discreetly in side alleys, and officials do not allow foreigners to stay the night.
     
Shoe merchant Fazal-ur-REhman is sullen, because the foreign journalist will not buy a pair of shoes.
      “Not a single pair has been sold today”, ur-Rehman says. “This was a peaceful city. Now everyone in the world thinks that Abbottabad is not a good city. People are frightened. Nobody knows what will happen next.”
      The most popular leather shoes in the shop cost about EUR 25 a pair. They are manufactured in Pakistan: the merchant does not forget to mention this repeatedly. Foreign shoes are kept separately. He does not try to push them.
      “We give a two-year guarantee for local shoes”, ur-Rehman says and adds: “There is no guarantee for imports.”
     
An image campaign to clean Abbottabad’s reputation has already been launched. The city’s website has a new slogan: “City of Peace”. Abbottabad has also announced that it will host a new film festival.
      All of this may be too late. The label has already been placed on the city’s name, and it will end up being the same kind of branding iron as Chernobyl, Hiroshima, or Srebrenica. Abbottabad has unwittingly become a single-issue city.
     
This is unfortunate, as ordinary residents certainly knew nothing about bin Laden. The people here do not like the foreign fanatics of al-Qaeda any more than they like the Americans.
      Both are intruders. Go to hell.
      “Osama is an Arab”, says the bakery’s Shajid Arkam, adding that he would like to continue his everyday life in peace. “What kind of Islam is it that the whole world goes crazy over one man?”
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 5.6.2011


Previously in HS International Edition:
  COMMENTARY: Europe was key target of Osama bin Laden (3.5.2011)
  New SUPO chief has “cautiously positive” reaction to Osama bin Laden’s death (4.5.2011)
  UN rapporteur Scheinin: Killing bin Laden was legal (4.5.2011)

See also:
  Press reports say al-Qaeda leader wants to target “weak” Finns in Afghanistan (1.6.2011)

TOMMI NIEMINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
tommi.nieminen@hs.fi