This Article is From Apr 18, 2014

Library named after Osama bin Laden in Pakistan

Library named after Osama bin Laden in Pakistan

File photo of Osama bin Laden.

Islamabad: The library of a seminary for women run by a controversial hardline cleric in the Pakistani capital has been named after slain Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

The seminary is run by Maulana Abdul Aziz, the imam of the Lal Masjid that was once the target of a military operation during Pervez Musharraf's regime.

"He (Osama) might be a terrorist for others but we do not consider him as a terrorist. For us he was a hero of Islam. He is a martyr," Aziz was quoted as saying by Geo TV.

The name plate outside the library read 'Maktbah Usama bin Laden Sheeed'.

Bin Laden was killed in a US special forces raid in Abbottabad in May 2011.

The cleric's brother Rasheed was killed during the Lal Masjid operation in 2007.

The operation had ended in a bloody eight-day siege killing at least 58 Pakistani troops and seminary students.

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