Abbottabad attracts media, crowd

ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan, May 5 (UPI) -- Journalists from world over have arrived in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in the wake of the killing of Osama bin Laden as Pakistanis expressed dismay and shock.

The raid ended a 10-year search for the man who masterminded the Sept. 11, 2001, terror carnage on the United States.

The VOA report said as the media from around the world arrived in Abbottabad, a garrison town near Islamabad, to cover Monday's deadly raid, others flocked to the compound where bin Laden had hidden. Guards posted around it did not allow them enter.

"We have come to see whether all this is true or not. Such a big event has occurred here," Alam Sher, a local resident, told VOA. "The whole world is talking about it. I cannot believe that it is true. How can such a well-known person live in such a house?"

Some expressed frustration Pakistani sovereignty had been violated by the U.S. raid. They said the mission occurred without Pakistani authorization, indicating weakness in the country's defenses.

"We want to convey that we are insecure. Today, Americans came and they did what they wanted to do. Tomorrow, India will come and they will do what they want to do. Where is our security?" asked one.

In Multan, a large city in Punjab province way south of Abbottabad, local clerics held prayers Wednesday for the dead, which was followed by a demonstration in praise of bin Laden and to condemn the United States, VOA reported.