The site of the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan where terrorist Osama bin Laden was tracked to and killed by U.S. Navy SEALs in 2011 is now the subject of a turf war between local municipalities. As it stands, there are two very different ideas of what to do with the place.
The actual structure you might have called “Osama’s house” was razed years ago, but now NBC reports that provincial authorities want to put a playground on the vacant lot. Meanwhile, Cantonment authorities (law enforcement, basically) have already designated it to be a graveyard.
“When OBL was killed, nobody went near the place and nobody claimed its ownership,” Omar Farooq, deputy director of the local Cantonment Administration in Rawalpindi, told NBC Tuesday. “According to the law, we took charge. And were then instructed to demolish the property.”
Currently, the plot of dirt apparently “sits largely unused — although it occasionally becomes a makeshift cricket pitch or a kite-flying field for local children.” It will remain that way until the competing parties can work something out.
Hat tip to Eric!