Osama Was Never Hiding In Caves - Mian

Jamaica-based Pakistani says residents' indifference towards al-Qaida aided in terrorist cover


Director general of the Office of Utilities Regulation, Zia Mian, believes it is unlikely residents of Islamabad knew Osama bin Laden was staying near the Pakistan capital where he was killed by American forces on Sunday.

Mian, a Pakistani, attended university in the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi. He told The Gleaner that while Islamabad is a military region, it is also the seat of Pakistan's central government and home to many diplomats.

"It is a metropolitan city with all kinds of people. They don't care about al-Qaida or anything like that; they just go about their business," Mian said.

The Saudi Arabia-born bin Laden was the ruthless founder and leader of al-Qaida. He, a woman said to be one of his wives, and three men were killed by a Navy Seals team in an area known as Abbottabad, which is located about 40 miles south of Islamabad.

Mian owns property in Abbottabad.

Bin Laden, 54, was the target of a decade-long manhunt by a United States-led international force for masterminding the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. More than 3,000 persons died in that incident.

never hiding in caves

US officials say bin Laden's body was buried at sea shortly after he was killed in the early morning attack, which took place at a three-storey mansion.

Mian, who is from the city of Punjab, said he never bought the popular theory that bin Laden was hiding in caves in Pakistan's remote mountain region.

"It's easier to hide where there's a large population and people least expect to have drone (US missile) strikes," Mian said.

Mian, who is in his late 60s, said Islamabad was a rustic area being developed by the Pakistan government when he was a university student.

Abbottabad was named for James Abbott, a British commissioner in the Punjab region during the 1850s.

Islamabad has been hit by several terrorist attacks in recent years. In September 2008, a truck with explosives detonated in front of the Marriott Hotel there, killing 54 persons and injuring 266.