Pakistan begins demolishing bin Laden home

Local residents walk past a wall with graffiti saying "Long live bin Laden" near the hideout of slain Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan in this May 6, 2011 file photo.

/ AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's army engineers on Saturday began demolishing the former home of Osama bin Laden, after authorities decided to end prospects of the location "becoming a monument" to the world's most hunted terrorist, a senior Pakistani government official told CBS News.

Though Pakistani media reported Saturday evening that the demolition had begun after backhoes and bulldozers were brought to the site, there was no official confirmation from the government.

But the government official who spoke to CBS NEWS on condition that he will not be named because he was not authorized to speak to journalists said, "If the (demolition) plan proceeds on track, the objective is to ensure that the place is flattened before sunrise (Sunday)."

In the past year, bin Laden's former home in Abbottabad has shot to global prominence after he was tracked and killed by a team of U.S. Navy SEALs on the night between May 1 and 2 last year.

Though the exact circumstances surrounding bin Laden's stay at his former home are still a matter of debate, some Pakistani and Western officials have said that he may have lived there for up to five years.

Watch video from "CBS Evening News" below:

It wasn't immediately clear on Saturday exactly what prompted the Pakistani government to order the demolition now, almost 10 months after bin Laden's discovery. Abbottabad is primarily a military garrison city, home to a number of institutions belonging to the Pakistan Army, including the prestigious Pakistan Military Academy, or PMA, the main training school for Army officers whose graduates include past and present generals.

Last month, a Pakistani government minister told CBS News on condition of anonymity that the authorities were concerned about bin Laden's former home attracting widespread interest from the country's domestic as well as Western media, around the first anniversary of his killing.

"The first anniversary is probably going to revive criticism of Pakistan's failure in detecting bin Laden," the minister said. "We want to close this sorry chapter and move on," adding, "Demolishing Osama bin Laden's home will be a step to end (the legacy of) his existence in Pakistan."

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Osama bin Laden

[kbbpll]

Didn't they "begin demolishing", like, three days ago? Oops, forgot, CBS doesn't work weekends.

[fedup12]

by TheRealDissonant February 25, 2012 1:42 PM EST
Long live Bin Laden?...Don't they watch the news??
=============================================

They probably think hes rockin those 72 virgins.

[julianpenrod]

How reminiscent this is of the New World Order carting away all the metal from the Twin Towers to merlt it down, refusing to subject it to examination to verify if it showed signs of torsioning, from metal that collapsed from other metal falling on it, or explosive, indicating the Twin Towers had actually been detonated by Larry Silverstein and blamed on "terrorists" to avoid insurance costs, labor expenditures and obtaining clearances. And, at the same time, giving the New World Order the "excuse: to begin their eternal war to enslave all humanity who don't have corporate money or political influence. How similar, too, to the decision by Stamford, Connecticut to raze the house belonging to Madonna Badger, known as "Mom" to the local police sergeant, after the fire that broke out Christmas Day, without going about the investigation that evidently would have shown "Mom" Badger set the fire herself. And so much like the refusal of authorities and the courts to release the autopsy photos and x-rays of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. which would have shown he wasn't killed in the 2001 Daytone 500 accident they insist caused his death.

[baileyccc]

This is a good thing. Any reminder of this monster needs to be removed.

[erpicferl]

i heard osama made a mean veggie omelet.

[enough-already]

Now if we could just flatten THE REST of the country...

[venusvegasvada]

Wow, that must be sooo hard for them to do.

[Honorplease]

If they want a monument, open up a porno shop dedicated to him.

[jonnyooh]

Why do they want to destroy the home of their national hero? Do they plan to put up a monument to him in its place? Now those religious fruits in Afghanistan will have another reason to scream their guts out.

[randomites]

Well, there goes the neighborhood. I'm sure the propery values will plummet.