In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, which killed 2,977 people, Osama’s extended family scattered to the wind. Meanwhile, the jihadist who founded al Qaeda to wage holy war on the West concealed himself in the Afghan mountains and in northern Pakistan to evade justice. But by 2004, as the United States bogged itself down in nation-building efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, bin Laden felt the heat of the chase dissipate.
That’s when the world’s most wanted man ordered his bodyguard, Ibrahim Saeed Ahmed abd al-Hamid, to buy some land, hire an architect, and build a fortress big enough to house the family he was intent on reuniting in Abbottabad, Pakistan. . .
The acre of land enclosed within the walls contained a small farm that produced apples, vegetables, grapes, and honey and housed chickens and even cows — food that was apparently being consumed by unseen residents.
But the final clue was the clotheslines on the compound, which flapped each day with women’s garments, shalwar kameez worn by Pakistani men, children’s outfits and diapers — far more than the 11 members of the bodyguards’ families could ever wear.
The invisible inhabitants, according to the agents’ laundry calculations, had to include an adult man, several adult women, and at least nine children, a perfect fit for the polygamous patriarch they were seeking.
via joemiller
Revealed: How Osama bin Laden Was Found
