315 lines
9.5 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
315 lines
9.5 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
news
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worldnews
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al-qaeda
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8489699
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# Peter Oborne at Osama bin Laden's compound
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## The Telegraph's Peter Oborne gives an eyewitness account of the scene
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outside the Abbottabad compound where Osama bin Laden was killed.
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TelegraphPlayer-8489699
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by Peter Oborne 1:00PM BST 03 May 2011
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Follow the latest news with Osama bin Laden killed: live
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The whole world may be alive with excitement as it digests the news that the
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biggest manhunt in history has reached its gory conclusion, but the most
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important death of the 21st century so far seems to have made little impact in
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Abbottabad.
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The shops are open, selling fruit, groceries and kebabs. The restaurants are
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full as local people sit in the open air smoking cigarettes and munching naan
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bread.
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There is no tension in the air, no menacing groups of young men at street
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corners, no religious slogans scrawled on the walls or shouted in the streets.
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[Osama bin Laden][1] met his death in the cleanest town I have ever seen in
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[Pakistan][2], full of tidy gardens, whitewashed walls and tidily pruned
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hedgerows. There is no litter in the streets. The shiny signposts at every
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corner betray the character of this idyllic city. Abbottabad is a military
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cantonment. The military is omnipresent.
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Related Content
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* ## [Bin Laden's compound][3]
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* ## [Barack Obama watched bin Laden raid][4]
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* ## [Bin Laden shot in 40 minute raid][5]
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* ## [Preston graduate live tweets bin Laden raid][6]
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It was early evening last night by the time we arrived in Abbottabad after a
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winding 35-mile journey north from Islamabad along the Kula Kula highway,
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which links Pakistan to China.
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As we entered the road leading to Bilal town - where the Americans say bin
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Laden was killed - we were greeted by a large tank painted with extravagant
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military markings. It marked the entrance to the Pakistan military academy.
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A few hundred yards down to the bottom of the hill was the entrance to Bilal
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town - and the only place in Abbottabad where the tension was palpable. A
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heavy military presence halted further progress.
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In the near darkness we could see the silhouette of the buildings where bin
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Laden had died - we were told that his heavily fortified compound was 100
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yards from where we stood. Local people told us that the police and soldiers
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were removing items and collecting evidence from the house. "They don't want
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it to turn into a shrine," one said.
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Walking back up the hill, we turned right into the smart offices of the
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Paradise furniture and mobile centre. Behind the counter Khizer, 20, a
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student, told us that the lights in the town had suddenly gone out at 10pm.
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Some time later, at around 1am, the electricity had come back on. Almost
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immediately, two small blasts followed by a large bang shook the windows in
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all the houses of the neighbourhood.
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Khizer said he was reluctant to accept President Barack Obama's claim that bin
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Laden was dead. "There is always such a heavy presence of military round here.
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I do not believe that he would have come here on his own accord."
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Passers-by backed up Khizer's claim. They said that the bin Ladens had lived
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in a "red zone" area, signifying exceptionally high security. Khizer said he
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regularly walked past the compound where the bin Laden family lived. "The
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neighbours said that they were backward" - a phrase often used by urban people
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in Pakistan to refer to visitors from the mountains. He added that people
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walking past the bin Laden compound often heard the sounds of women talking
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and children crying. On the street outside, we met a plumber, Mohammad Naseen
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Khan, who said he was working in the house next to where Osama bin Laden had
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lived. Neighbours had told him that "they were good people. They were generous
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in paying their bills. They always gave a little extra".
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Not one person we spoke to believed that bin Laden had been killed in the
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shoot-out. Wajjid Robbabni told us that the Americans were faking the death
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because they wanted to justify withdrawal from Afghanistan.
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There was a mood of reasoned anger among the people outside Bilal town. They
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expressed indignation that the Americans had carried out a military operation
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on Pakistani soil.
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Most of the men we spoke to told us that they strongly admired Osama bin
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Laden. There were vigorous nods of approval as Mohamamad Iqbal, an elderly
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lawyer, said: "Bin Laden will be remembered. If he is dead, it will make no
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differerence. His mission is over but his name will live on."
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**Additional reporting by Murtaza Shibli **
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[X][7] Share & bookmark
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][8]
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* Share: [Share][7] [ ][9] [ ][10]
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[Tweet][11]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/8489699/Peter-Oborne-at-
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Osama-bin-Ladens-compound.html
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Telegraph
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## [Al-Qaeda][1]
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* ### [News »][12]
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* ### [World News »][13]
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* ### [Pakistan »][2]
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* ### [Telegraph TV »][14]
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* ### [News Video »][15]
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More Video
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## [Telegraph TV][16]
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## [World News][13]
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## [Al-Qaeda][1]
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[X][7] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][8]
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Share:
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* [ ][7]
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* [ ][9]
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* [ ][10]
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* [Tweet][11]
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* Advertisement
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![][17]
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RELATED VIDEO
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[![Let's be clear: Osama bin Laden was executed ? and for good reason; A still
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from a Bin Laden video released by the US Department of Defense; AFP][18]
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][19]
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### [Osama bin Laden's video messages][19]
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19 May 2011
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[![][20] ][21]
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### [Osama bin Laden unarmed when shot dead][21]
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03 May 2011
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[![Rally in Pakistan for Osama bin Laden][22] ][23]
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### [Rally in Pakistan for bin Laden][23]
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03 May 2011
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[![David Cameron, left, and Osama bin Laden][24] ][25]
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### [Gaddafi's 'common thread' with bin Laden][25]
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03 May 2011
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[![Pervez Musharraf][26] ][27]
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### [Pakistan in the dark over bin Laden compound][27]
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03 May 2011
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[![John Brennan, the chief counter-terrorism adviser in the US, says
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investigations are under way into how Osama bin Laden went six years
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undetected at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. ][28] ][29]
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### [Bin Laden 'had Pakistani support'][29]
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03 May 2011
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Advertisement
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[WATCH MORE »][14]
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[![Flight recorders may provide Air France crash clues][30] ][31]
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### [Air France recorders may give crash clues][31]
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[![penguin at London Zoo][32] ][33]
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### [Penguins' new London Zoo pool][33]
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[Follow The Telegraph on Social Media »][34]
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Like Telegraph.co.uk on Facebook
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[1]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/
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[2]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/
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[3]: /news/picturegalleries/worldnews/8490348/Osama-bin-Laden-more-
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pictures-of-Abbottabad-Pakistan.html
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[4]: /news/picturegalleries/worldnews/8489318/Osama-bin-Laden-dead-US-
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President-Barack-Obama-watched-raid-in-real-time.html
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[5]: /news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8488063/Osama-bin-Laden-shot-dead-
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during-40-minute-raid-after-refusing-to-surrender.html
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[6]: /technology/twitter/8487686/Osama-bin-Laden-killed-Pakistani-man-live-
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tweets-deadly-raid.html
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[7]: #
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[8]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/4590190/Share-this-article-
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What-are-these.html
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[9]: mailto:?subject=A Telegraph reader thought you would be interested in
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this article&body=Depending on your email program, you may be able to click on
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the link in the email. Alternatively, you may have to open a web browser, such
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as Firefox or Internet Explorer, and copy the link over into the address bar.
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%0A%0Ahttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/8489699/Peter-Oborne-
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at-Osama-bin-Ladens-compound.html %0A%0AFor the best content online, visit
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www.telegraph.co.uk
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[10]: javascript:print()
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[11]: http://twitter.com/share?via=Telegraph
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[12]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/
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[13]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/
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[14]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraphtv/
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[15]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/
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[16]: /telegraphtv/
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[17]: http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/imp.gif?client=ca-
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[18]: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01890/osama-bin-laden-
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bl_1890624g.jpg
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[19]: /news/worldnews/al-qaeda/8522949/Osama-bin-Ladens-past-video-
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messages.html
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[20]: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01886/osama_1886383g.jpg
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[21]: /news/worldnews/al-qaeda/8491062/Osama-bin-Laden-unarmed-when-shot-
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dead.html
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[22]: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01886/Rally_in_Pakistan__
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1886544g.jpg
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[23]: /news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8491011/Rally-in-Pakistan-for-Osama-
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bin-Laden.html
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[24]:
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http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01886/CameronOsama_1886196g.jpg
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[25]: /news/worldnews/al-qaeda/8490294/David-Cameron-Colonel-Gaddafi-and-
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Osama-bin-Laden-held-a-common-thread.html
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[26]: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01885/APTN_Musharraf_030_
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[27]: /news/worldnews/al-qaeda/8489268/Pakistan-didnt-know-where-Osama-bin-
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[29]: /news/worldnews/al-qaeda/8489241/White-House-Osama-bin-Laden-had-
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[34]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/follow-us/
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