Thaindian News

Toronto, May 4 (IANS) Hizbul Mujahideen, the militant outfit fighting Indian forces in Kashmir, owned the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed by US forces Sunday, according to a media report here.

The report in the respected Globe and Mail Tuesday said that Hizbul Mujahideen was using the compound in Abbottabad where bin Laden lived, adding that the terrorist mastermind was sheltered by one of the militant groups that has enjoys backing from the Pakistani military.

The Islamabad-datelined report quoted a police officer familiar with bin Laden’s compound as saying that “the location was used by Hizbul Mujahideen, one of the biggest militant outfits in the disputed territory of Kashmir.”

“The place belonged to Hizbul Mujahideen. But the authorities have asked us not to share any information about the exact ownership,” the report quoted the police officer as saying.

The report added that Hizbul’s links to Al-Qaeda would “deepen Pakistan’s embarrassment over Mr. bin Laden’s death.” According to it, land-registry officials or patwaris in Abbottabad were summoned to a meeting Tuesday and told to keep quiet about the owners of the compound used by bin Laden.

“The patwaris are meeting right now. They are being instructed not to say anything about the land-ownership issue,” the report quoted a city official as saying.

The report said if the ownership of the compound were traced to Hizbul, it would “mark an unusual example of co-operation between the militant group and its more extreme cousin, Al-Qaeda. HM has maintained a narrow focus on removing Indian forces from Kashmir, while Al-Qaeda pursues global ambitions.”

Hizbul is the leading militant outfit trying to oust India from Kashmir.

“Like other groups fighting Indian troops in the borderlands, HM’s radical membership has never been rounded up by Pakistani forces and some analysts say Islamabad covertly supports the group,” the report said.

(Gurmukh Singh can be contacted at gurmukh.s@ians.in)