Bin Laden's life on the run revealed by Pakistani inquiry

Osama bin Laden lived in plainsight for almost a decade and was once even pulled over forspeeding but not apprehended, thanks to the incompetence ofPakistan's intelligence and security services, an officialreport into his killing said on Monday.

The report, leaked to Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeerawhich circulated it late on Monday, offers fascinating detailsabout life on the run for the world's most wanted man, who, itsays, wore a cowboy hat to avoid being spotted from above.

Written by a judge-led commission that the Pakistanigovernment set up shortly after US special forces killed binLaden in 2011, the 336-page report is based on interviews with201 sources including members of his family and variousofficials.

In one testimony showing how close bin Laden came to beingcaptured, "Maryam", the wife of one of his most trusted aides,recounted how his car was stopped by Pakistani police in theSwat region.

"Once when they were all ... on a visit to the bazaar theywere stopped for speeding by a policeman," the report says. "Buther (Maryam's) husband quickly settled the matter with thepoliceman and they drove on."

To avoid detection from the sky, bin Laden took to wearing acowboy hat when moving about his compound in the city ofAbbottabad, his wives told investigators.

The inquiry's findings - which have not yet been officiallypublished - include evidence of incompetence at almost everylevel of Pakistan's security apparatus. The report is alsofiercely critical of the "illegal manner" in which the UnitedStates conducted the raid.

It chastises Pakistan's leadership for failing to detect CIAactivities on its soil, and does not rule out the involvement ofrogue elements within the Pakistani intelligence service - asensitive issue even to touch on in a high-profile inquiry.

"The US acted like a criminal thug," says the report bythe Abbottabad Commission.

"But above all, the tragedy refers to the comprehensivefailure of Pakistan to detect the presence of OBL (Osama binLaden) on its territory for almost a decade or to discern thedirection of US policy towards Pakistan that culminated in theavoidable humiliation of the people of Pakistan."

Culpable Negligence

After a decade-long hunt, the CIA finally tracked down theal Qaeda leader to a compound within sight of an elite Pakistanimilitary academy in Abbottabad, close to the capital Islamabad.

In a night-time mission by US Navy SEALs, bin Laden waskilled on May 2 that year in an episode that humiliatedPakistan's military and strained relations between the strategicallies Washington and Islamabad.

"As for (failing to detect) the CIA network, there wasculpable negligence and incompetence," the report says.

"Although the possibility of some degree of connivanceinside or outside the government cannot be entirely discounted,no individual can be identified as guilty of connivance."

Pakistan's government and security officials could notimmediately be reached for comment.

Bin Laden's network killed nearly 3,000 people when al Qaedahijackers crashed commercial planes into New York's World TradeCenter, the Pentagon outside Washington and a field inPennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001.

Some US officials have voiced suspicions that Pakistan'sintelligence agencies sheltered bin Laden, but Pakistan hasdismissed the idea.

Life on the run

The report offers insights into the dramatic night of hisdeath and paints a picture of a restless and paranoid man whooften hit the road to avoid being caught.

Bin Laden arrived in Pakistan in the spring or summer of2002, the report says, at one point spending two years inHaripur before moving to the Abbottabad compound with his bigfamily in August 2005.

"All the places in Pakistan where OBL stayed are not fullyknown," the report says. "But it included FATA (South Waziristanand Bajaur), Peshawar, Swat and Haripur."

It found that he probably crossed into Pakistan fromAfghanistan's Tora Bora area, where US forces were huntinghim, sometime in 2002. His family moved from Afghanistan'sKandahar to Karachi shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

"They kept a very low profile and lived extremely frugally.They never exposed themselves to public view. They had minimumsecurity," the report says.

"OBL successfully minimised any 'signature' of his presence.His minimal support group blended easily with the surroundingcommunity ... His wives, children and grandchildren hardly everemerged from the places where they stayed. No one ever visitedthem, not even trusted al Qaeda members."

His wives, in their testimonies, said bin Laden was not fondof personal possessions and had very few clothes.

"Before coming to Abbottabad he had just three pairs ofshalwar kameez (traditional dress) for summer, and three pairsfor winter," the report says.

"Whenever OBL felt unwell (unofficial US accounts indicatehe suffered from Addison's disease), he treated himself withtraditional Arab medicine ... and whenever he felt sluggish hewould take some chocolate with an apple." (Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

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