Saya garis bawahi:
"In January this year, Pakistani security forces stormed a modest house in the
city and seized Umar Patek, an Indonesian linked to al Qaeda who had a $1
million bounty on his head under the FBI's Rewards for Justice program. He had
allegedly helped build the bombs used in the 2002 bombings in Bali that killed
200 people.
Patek -- a key leader in the Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiya -- had
rented a room in the house of a retired accountant in Abbottabad after arriving
in Pakistan some months earlier on a forged visa. He is now being held (after
treatment for gunshot wounds sustained during his arrest) pending a decision on
his extradition."
---
Abbottabad -- The military town where bin Laden hid in plain sight
By Tim Lister, CNN
May 2, 2011 -- Updated 1450 GMT (2250 HKT)
Click to play
Inside the place bin Laden was killed
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Abbottabad is home to Pakistan's equivalent of West Point
* It is on a key road, and is something of a way station for terrorist
groups
* Other wanted terrorist leaders have been found in the city
(CNN) -- One week ago, the chief of Pakistan's Army Staff, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez
Kayani, told graduating cadets in the city of Abbottabad that the "back of
terrorism" in Pakistan had been broken, thanks to the sacrifices of Pakistan's
soldiers.
Kayani was speaking at the "passing out parade" at the prestigious Kakul
military academy in Abbottabad, the West Point of Pakistan. At that very
moment, the man who had dragged Pakistan into the "War on Terror" a decade
earlier was, it transpires, just a mile or two away, living in apparent comfort
behind the high walls of a very private compound. Osama bin Laden, who had
declared war on Pakistan, had apparently been living for months in a city that
had made its name as a military garrison.
Abbottabad, pronounced AHB-tah-bahd, is some 60 miles by winding mountainous
roads north of Pakistan's capital. Surrounded by green hills, it is renowned
for its trees and parks. It's a popular retirement place for officers in the
Pakistani army, partly because of its military academy, but also because of its
agreeable climate. During British rule, the Imperial Gazeteer of India
described it as "picturesquely situated," 4,120 feet above sea level.
Abbottabad sits on the Karakoram Highway, an engineering marvel that links
Pakistan with China through the Himalayas. Before much of Pakistan became
off-limits to most foreign tourists, it was also a popular spot for those on
their way to and from the Swat valley and the foothills of the Himalayas.
Map: bin Laden's hideout
Osama bin Laden killed during U.S. raid
'Good riddance' to bin Laden
Hideout wasn't remote cave after all
Timeline of bin Laden's death
RELATED TOPICS
* Osama bin Laden
* Pakistan
But despite its military traditions, its hockey fields and golf courses,
Abbottabad and neighboring districts are also familiar territory to al Qaeda
and other extremist groups.
In January this year, Pakistani security forces stormed a modest house in the
city and seized Umar Patek, an Indonesian linked to al Qaeda who had a $1
million bounty on his head under the FBI's Rewards for Justice program. He had
allegedly helped build the bombs used in the 2002 bombings in Bali that killed
200 people.
Patek -- a key leader in the Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiya -- had
rented a room in the house of a retired accountant in Abbottabad after arriving
in Pakistan some months earlier on a forged visa. He is now being held (after
treatment for gunshot wounds sustained during his arrest) pending a decision on
his extradition.
Patek's arrest followed that of a Pakistani in Abbottabad called Tahir Shehzad,
an alleged al Qaeda facilitator who had been under surveillance for some time,
according to Pakistani media reports. Shehzad had allegedly gone to Lahore to
meet two French militants who were planning to travel to North Waziristan with
Patek.
So Abbottabad emerges as something of a way station for al Qaeda and associated
groups. Geographically, that makes sense. As the crow flies, the city is just
over 100 miles from the border with Kunar province in Afghanistan, an area
where al Qaeda has kept a foothold since 9/11. Even with poor roads and
mountainous terrain in between, the journey can be completed in a day. It is
even closer to the restive tribal territories.
In the past two years, the Pakistani army in this area has been preoccupied
with reversing the gains of the Pakistani Taliban, rather than chasing down the
remnants of al Qaeda or launching the offensive against militants in North
Waziristan that Washington has long demanded.
The area to the north of Abbottabad saw a surge in Taliban activity two years
ago, as the Taliban sought to extend their influence from the tribal areas that
border Afghanistan into what was North West Frontier Province, now called
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The town of Buner, just 30 miles from Abbottabad and 60
miles from Islamabad, fell to the Taliban early in 2009. They also established
a training camp close to the town of Mansehr, a few miles from Abbottabad.
The Pakistani military has since gradually reasserted control over the area,
expelling the Taliban from the Swat Valley, but at a bloody cost. Clashes
continue sporadically in the area, and an attack on the offices of the charity
World Vision last year in Mansehr resulted in six of the non-governmental
organization's workers being shot dead.
To the east of Abbottabad is Pakistani Kashmir, its forested hills hosting
training camps for several groups committed to "liberating" Indian Kashmir. So
it is a city close to the front lines of several of South Asia's insurgencies
and terror campaigns.
Like much of the region, Abbottabad has long been a theater of sectarian and
religious rivalry. Back in the mid-19th century a British officer named Maj.
James Abbott brought peace to an area that saw violent confrontations between
its Sikh and Muslim populations. Abbott's contribution was recognized when the
town was named after him. He even wrote a poem about the place that would bear
his name:
"I remember the day when I first came here
And smelt the sweet Abbottabad air ..."
------------------------------------
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