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Government in the town where Osama bin Laden was killed are planning to build a multi-million pound amusement park. The 500-acre development in Abbottabad, Pakistan – where US special forces shot dead the al-Qaeda leader on May 2, 2011 – will include a zoo, heritage centre, restaurants and artificial waterfalls.
The local government denies it is a bid to polish the town's tarnished image and hopes the riverside project will boost tourism. The provincial minister for tourism and sports, Syed Aqil Shah, said: "The amusement city will be built on 50 acres in the first phase but later will be extended to 500 acres.
"It will have a heritage park, wildlife zoo, food street, adventure and paragliding clubs, waterfalls and jogging tracks. This project has nothing to do with Osama bin Laden.”The eight-year building project – with a budget of £19.5million – is due to begin later this month. The quiet, leafy town of Abbottabad, in north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province around 30 miles north of capital Islamabad, houses Pakistan's elite military academy.
The discovery of the world's most wanted man on its doorstep prompted allegations of incompetence or complicity between the armed forces and the 9/11 mastermind.
Authorities demolished bin Laden's secret compound last February, fearing it could become a shrine to al-Qaeda followers.
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