# ]; E; }, d% ?0 X) k( R围观的人中，有一群年轻的妇女。她们说，每天晚上遛弯儿的时候，都要经过这所宅院。 5 ?2 e9 s# o5 g' a! ` , `/ Q- b: ?; W4 g& F Q$ ~那么，对于“这是美国最重要的通缉犯的家”的新闻，这些女人是怎么看的呢？2 V+ N$ n- d% Y1 {
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其中一个人说，“我根本就不相信。本·拉登太重要了，不可能住在阿伯塔巴德”。, I G$ o& W' Q* t: U
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难道，这家人以“碉堡”为家，你们就不觉得奇怪吗？2 n; U: U5 Y5 q5 L: S$ x# T
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另外一名当地人说，“一点儿也不奇怪。这个国家炸弹爆炸这么多，住在高墙后面的人多了去了”。% m6 b' `, ?4 N3 W
$ Q( n( Q' c8 w1 n. u, v他们告诉我，美国特种兵突袭的当天晚上，直升飞机的轰鸣声，在几里地以外都能听得到。很多人心想，这可能是巴基斯坦军队在搞夜间军事演习。但是后来，响起了枪声。 - b8 S# x+ d) m8 u7 v5 |: o$ N( b: u 6 W( `7 I: [0 C, d一些人告诉我，他们在地上看到了还在冒烟儿的直升机残骸。但是，大院儿四周向记者开放的时候，这些残骸都被打扫干净了。 5 E8 A+ d( U/ {0 L8 q# Q& J. n3 v$ u" i% y+ A$ Y7 c( u
大院儿内，没有任何生命的迹象，大门儿前，到处是站岗的警察。 # t5 A4 v/ v" Z. X) w' w' E* A% W2 |$ j( t7 E/ [9 e
出了名的小镇 3 s: T* }- Z7 @( h; ]1 Z1 s- _' D5 K* g4 C
太阳落山了，我们返回下榻的旅馆。途中，我路过阿伯塔巴德另外一所截然不同的建筑物的大门。这个地方的名字，从小就映入了我的脑海。0 _6 j, J! |0 B/ b
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1950年代初期，我父亲来到“波恩厅”（Burn Hall）上学。这曾经是传教士开办的一所学校。校址依然存在，不过，现在已经成了一所军队办的学校，学生中既有男生也有女生。 : {4 U+ G! [; }) f$ C # G5 a& {- s# Q2 e; w0 m0 _小时候，听过许多有关“波恩厅”、特别是那些很有个性、但却难以亲近的天主教神父的故事。 / r! e. S4 s3 K5 R $ G G2 \" h7 R. `% h/ |+ \每年，我们全家人都会去巴基斯坦北部钓鱼度假，每一次都必然经过阿伯塔巴德。这更成了父亲讲故事的好机会。3 Z! F$ u5 s# s, w: z
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在阿伯塔巴德，我们会停下来购买必须品。带够了存货之后，我们就开始上山、然后下山进入河谷地带。夏天，我们一家人经常来这里度假。" K2 A y* n( \: D: H( f7 v
v# r* C5 O! Z我一直以为，阿伯塔巴德是个几乎没有什么巴基斯坦味儿的名字。后来年纪大了，我逐渐认识到，这个小镇其实是以詹姆斯·阿伯特命名的。 1 x4 t' _& a# _ j. T 2 Q( i3 l' l: U2 J2 d' M- t. b+ V0 F9 w詹姆斯·阿伯特是英国军官。1840、50年代，成了这一片儿的传奇人物。在阿伯特的带领下，这个地区彻底归入了英属印度的统治之下，阿伯特因此被授以爵位。8 b) z) c5 ^4 i! h1 b4 d
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时光流转。独立之前、许多颇有英国特色的名字都被改掉了，但是，阿伯塔巴德的名字却保留了下来，提醒着人们这里的殖民历史。 ) M$ U2 ~/ b# b" c; H 0 P# c4 o9 `! n0 K! X我相信，今天阿伯塔巴德的居民中，没有几个人知道詹姆斯·阿伯特将军。再说了，是本·拉登把阿伯塔巴德的名字推到了举世瞩目的地位。) U6 ], `' U& t/ X, z/ Z. t
( e: ~. N" X( ?) ?阿伯塔巴德和巴基斯坦军队之间的紧密关系显而易见。路边有坦克，警示人们不远处就是军事学院；纪念碑是以巴基斯坦的核弹头为模型修建的。; H' O& N% ?. i
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在这座巨大的、以武器为原型的雕塑的阴影下，我听到更多人对最近这里发生的新闻表示不解和不信。 - y( \! G# M& O# z o' P3 {) j7 \, K. f0 Q7 P3 O
一个人说，“美国人必须向我们证明，本·拉登确实住在这儿”。他是一家小杂货店的店主，杂货店的名字很有意思：Tuck Shop----糖果店（英文口语）。) W& R" d4 e& ]2 W: l( d0 e- i
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他的朋友也有同感。他说，“如果美国人真能到这儿来，在半个小时之内找到本·拉登，把他带走，他们肯定也应该能给我们看看本·拉登的尸体吧”？( U( X2 u( x& N7 U+ \" p3 D- f
5 k( p5 P7 ]+ F" h不过那时候，再经过阿伯塔巴德，我就需要告诉孩子们，这个小镇，除了在我们的家事中，在史书上，也占有一席之地。# k; D8 j: g" c7 j0 x
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本·拉登最后的藏身之地 0 {8 \# b, @+ F6 Z 7 S C' y# r0 @+ D" D2 Y % ~2 o4 Z# ]. F3 v" I- B& V" j% {6 J5 T" L' d; z \
本拉登藏身之地距离巴基斯坦首都伊斯兰堡不到100公里 : |. u2 N* a. k; E ?) }0 k' k4 }/ ]& d
Memories of Abbottabad, Bin Laden's hideout7 K, U) J# @* u3 M" U d" ^! E
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The world will remember the Pakistani city of Abbottabad as the place where Osama Bin Laden was finally tracked down, but for the BBC's Mishal Husain it holds many happy memories, from long before al-Qaeda and its leader first emerged. 0 i0 \0 Y* z1 o6 O( ?* d9 U M) e( M- [! s( z , |7 D- ?2 _" z; X4 a J6 n ; d: P+ |3 ~# p2 m' QMy first sight of the house that had been Osama Bin Laden's final home came after we drove down a narrow dirt road, winding through a neighbourhood of newly built and relatively affluent homes. . B6 J. `0 X6 _" h' U- d" f* { 7 `7 O/ x h+ ?1 w " N; `+ K+ ]9 @& L% F( N5 U) C1 m/ F: \3 n2 h4 Q! `
As the road cleared into an open ploughed field, with just a few houses dotted around, there was no mistaking that we had reached our destination. + ~5 t9 a ]- k% Y( b, F5 n/ s; u) \: V0 C* P) @2 b
2 M' ]8 R* L& Y. I / ?4 s5 o( |- Y6 fThe satellite vans were back-to-back, and crowds had gathered around the perimeter walls of the compound, and in front of the imposing green gates. - G) \+ X3 s! y2 B* S: Y ( F' ?8 u& w# Z& ]; C2 H1 ^% B # d5 _, R. e- F& c) |3 e+ K + r) ]- j2 ]' ?$ ^* ~I stood in front of the building and tried to imagine if there was anything that would have made it stand out to me, if I had passed by before Bin Laden made it so notorious. 7 }+ q/ u% d- @$ X8 T& ~9 `. B- s0 u8 n
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The walls were slightly higher than those of the neighbours and there were a few lines of nasty-looking barbed wire at the top.+ _6 o9 Z% G, T3 i
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The grounds were also more substantial than the houses nearby - clearly this establishment belonged to someone affluent enough to dedicate a large proportion of their land to a garden. * [9 b6 P5 w. M* Z$ F! `4 V! z& ?6 ?1 b( T w* E4 ]
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+ ]7 B0 H- X( V' cAmong the crowds gathered outside, was a group of young women who said they came past here every day for their evening walk.0 ?! Y& K' d9 k6 B7 B/ Y
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What did they think of the news that it was home to America's most wanted man?8 @) d# `2 ^5 L& c, C8 r
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"I just don't believe it," said one. "Osama Bin Laden was just too important a man to be living here in Abbottabad." $ h7 d6 d6 C& e' F+ j/ s2 B6 D . w! ?1 F" x' Q9 u2 O2 X+ E- D5 J/ ?7 y( z' T7 Y$ |& z" x
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Didn't they think there was something odd about this fortress like home?: _ h) m$ W4 x; X, Q" u- U
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"No," said another resident of the city, "with all the bomb blasts in this country, plenty of people live behind walls like this." ; P/ \7 H& s U t$ z6 Y8 n( z% ?( k1 n; e7 R8 F/ S* w6 T
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On the night of the American raid, they told me, the sound of the helicopters was heard for miles - many assumed it was some kind of night-time Pakistan Army exercise, but then the firing began. - A$ B7 @1 k& f) I9 l 9 i" U" x. T1 O3 q& M- I4 C0 y: s
0 U$ j# u5 ~* Y9 L" N( W, oSome told us they had seen burning debris on the ground, but by the time the area around the compound was opened to us, it had been well cleared.# J* A4 p! q A: G, @4 C9 D
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There was no sign of life inside and a heavy police presence at the gates. 4 N. H! e+ U! U( H3 w' O# X5 X" J% F2 q0 v/ o6 y" _( E7 ~
4 V: k8 b2 ^7 S9 |4 W' d . T- ~5 @9 l; x AOn the map3 p% ^% [9 K% m& V, F) Z/ Z* I4 Q
: e2 }5 Y1 J& H* D5 |5 IAs the sun set in the valley and we headed back to our hotel, I passed the main entrance of a very different Abbottabad establishment - one whose name I have known all my life. / s H" W8 C1 Z9 v4 P0 @+ C% ~ " ]1 r1 K9 N/ t# j) T, S6 W8 Z, x$ F( H/ L. i* @3 N# x
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Burn Hall was my father's school from the early 1950s, when he came here to be educated by Christian missionaries. It still exists today, although it is now run by the army and educates girls as well as boys.+ P# b5 U9 a0 y) e2 E
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Stories about Burn Hall and the charismatic, if slightly forbidding, Catholic Fathers who taught there were a feature of my own childhood, especially on our annual fishing expeditions to the north of Pakistan, when we would invariably pass through Abbottabad. ' Q! |: n% e3 |% {2 S( K, k4 ?+ h/ ?, _ @% V; G) z
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This was where we stocked up on essentials, packing a few more supplies before we began the ascent into the mountains and then into the valley that was our regular summer haunt.& C s" H# V; `! B9 n
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Abbottabad always struck me as a very un-Pakistani sounding name, until I grew old enough to realise it was actually named after a certain James Abbott, a British officer who became a legend in this region in the 1840s and 50s. He was knighted for his efforts to bring it firmly under the control of the Raj.( B7 W1 Z+ M/ @: O7 J( i1 g- K
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High price0 s6 A9 ]8 e( O( E
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Curiously, although many pre-independence, British-sounding names were changed over the years, this one remained, a reminder of the colonial past.; P/ n8 N0 d. j; u! I6 J6 U3 w& t
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I am sure few of Abbottabad's current residents know much about General Abbott though and, in any event, it is now Osama Bin Laden who has put their town on the map. 0 J7 D! R: E* v* ~ " ~2 f. b1 b {0 A9 A) m+ O- y4 A. |' r7 d
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Close links to the Pakistan Army are very evident here, from the roadside tank that alerts you to the nearby military academy to the monument that proudly recreates and pays homage to one of the country's nuclear missiles. ( ~% S, i: a# V: g) Y- a. u$ ^1 Y+ X) Y4 g
; w/ V7 v8 j0 ]9 r9 g0 [. W8 F 9 Y; S7 l$ k' L, E$ }In the shadow of this giant weapon-shaped sculpture, I encountered more disbelief about the events here. _. A2 Y$ U; I" A6 i9 t" [1 W% y; {2 u. ]! U
5 ?" L0 g* d# g; `" f5 a , B9 Z9 D# I8 d e; H* G"The Americans must prove to us that Bin Laden was here," said one man, the proprietor of a small grocery store that charmingly labelled itself a "tuck shop". 7 g( C2 ?0 @ s( m9 D4 [$ D' S5 p/ j
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; ^$ k2 t* I; ~5 l( lHis friend agreed: "If they can really come here, catch him and take him away, all in the space of half an hour, surely they can show us the body?"! p$ H' ]4 I; U. ?/ V$ n' V
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But those doubts do not mean that people here have any great sympathy for Osama Bin Laden. , b* j' ^! T5 z8 |3 X( h5 @4 X2 o" k B, Q
Almost a decade after the 11 September attacks, many Pakistanis feel that they have paid a high price for their country's alliance with the United States - both in the security situation and in the free fall of their economy.7 y' r" o* q! A3 n; \
% B; z$ m" T4 o: }( t" j: \ ! V; w$ q0 E9 p1 o, M' D8 u 4 [9 g; ^; Z" ? EToday I cannot pack my own three children into the back of a car and drive into the mountains of northern Pakistan, as my parents did so freely with me.$ o* E) c8 c+ u$ K
: [' e8 z4 A P" s: d R1 E3 Z. W& ?; D$ \ m4 P 0 y: m6 S- b- a) ? M/ DBut I am looking forward to the day when I can, once again, make that journey.6 e. ^7 `9 Y% k" C+ U4 @5 Q. j
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When we pass through Abbottabad, I'll have to tell the children, though, that it now has a place in history as well as one in the story of our family.
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