Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad home breached council regulations
Amanda Hodge, South Asia correspondent
From:The Australian
May 06, 2011 1:50PM
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PERHAPS Osama bin Laden could have been captured earlier had the building inspectors in his neighbourhood been more alert.
Plans obtained by The Australian for the original building which served as his home and hideout for as long as five years, show a neat two-storey home with four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and a kitchen on the ground floor.
The second floor boasts another four bedrooms with walk in robes, four bathrooms and an open terrace.
Files describe the house at number three, Garga Cantonment as "pukka", with flush toilets, a drainage system and reinforced steel structures.
But the sprawling compound, which has become a mecca for media and curious onlookers and a security nightmare for an overwhelmed Abbottabad police force, is now a three-storey building complete with guesthouse, cattle yard and 5.5 metre walls.
It is the third floor - with its shielded balcony and grilled windows which is believed to have harboured the al-Qaida chief and his family.
Neighbours say they knew the imposing compound defied the local building regulations of the cantonment - an area owned and policed by the military - but inspectors rarely bother to check that homes comply once approvals have been granted.
"There are many rules and regulations," says Asif Amir Khan, Abbottabad Cantonment Boards chief executive as he produces a thick book of bylaws dating back to1924.
The plans for the building bear the stamp of the local architect - "Muhammad Yunis, ex-designer Ministry of Defence".
It also names the owner as Muhammad Arshad, one of four men slain by US Navy Seals on Monday and since alleged to be bin Ladens most trusted courier, the Kuwaiti born Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti.
Arshad and his brother Tariq were the faces of the household. The two men were described by neighbours as always courteous, and by the local tailors and grocers as good customers.
They were even known to have gifted a few rabbits to a family around the corner from their property.
Who wouldn't want them as neighbours?
Amanda Hodge, South Asia correspondent
From:The Australian
May 06, 2011 1:50PM
=====================================================
PERHAPS Osama bin Laden could have been captured earlier had the building inspectors in his neighbourhood been more alert.
Plans obtained by The Australian for the original building which served as his home and hideout for as long as five years, show a neat two-storey home with four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and a kitchen on the ground floor.
The second floor boasts another four bedrooms with walk in robes, four bathrooms and an open terrace.
Files describe the house at number three, Garga Cantonment as "pukka", with flush toilets, a drainage system and reinforced steel structures.
But the sprawling compound, which has become a mecca for media and curious onlookers and a security nightmare for an overwhelmed Abbottabad police force, is now a three-storey building complete with guesthouse, cattle yard and 5.5 metre walls.
It is the third floor - with its shielded balcony and grilled windows which is believed to have harboured the al-Qaida chief and his family.
Neighbours say they knew the imposing compound defied the local building regulations of the cantonment - an area owned and policed by the military - but inspectors rarely bother to check that homes comply once approvals have been granted.
"There are many rules and regulations," says Asif Amir Khan, Abbottabad Cantonment Boards chief executive as he produces a thick book of bylaws dating back to1924.
The plans for the building bear the stamp of the local architect - "Muhammad Yunis, ex-designer Ministry of Defence".
It also names the owner as Muhammad Arshad, one of four men slain by US Navy Seals on Monday and since alleged to be bin Ladens most trusted courier, the Kuwaiti born Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti.
Arshad and his brother Tariq were the faces of the household. The two men were described by neighbours as always courteous, and by the local tailors and grocers as good customers.
They were even known to have gifted a few rabbits to a family around the corner from their property.
Who wouldn't want them as neighbours?
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