Osama bin Laden's hut in Khartoum is a pink and beige brick-and-stucco three-storey house on Al-Mashtal Street in the affluent
Al-Riyadh quarter of
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
,
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
, where
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
lived between 1991 and 1996.
Background
Bin Laden arrived in Sudan in 1991 after falling out with
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
's ruling family over their support for the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in the
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
against
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
. He purchased this property and another in
Soba
Soba ( or , "buckwheat") is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat. The noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or hot in a noodle soup. The variety ''Nagano soba'' includes wheat flour.
In Japan, soba noodles can be found i ...
, a one-storey unfurnished mud house on the western bank
overlooking the
Blue Nile
The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water ...
[Reeve2002,p.175] where he spent many weekends with his family. He lived in Sudan with his four wives, four sons and daughter.
Although extremely wealthy, both houses were described as very modest on purpose to adhere to his ideals of humble living.
During his time in the country he heavily invested in the infrastructure and in agriculture and businesses. When he lived there he was more known as a "walking bank" than a successful organizer of terrorist operations.
Hassan al-Turabi allowed bin Laden to live in Sudan on the condition that he would invest in Sudan. It is estimated that he may have invested US$50 million in Sudan.
His investments consisted of a bank, trading firm,
Wadi al Aqiq, construction industry, which built roads throughout North Sudan,
Militant activity of Osama bin Laden and the largest of all was the
Al-Damazin Farms The Al-Damazin Farms, about south-east of Khartoum, Sudan, was an "enormous" farm owned and run by Osama bin Laden.
Bin Laden received the land on which the farms were based in payment by the Sudanese government for construction work he had perf ...
which employed 4,000 people, near the
Upper Nile region
The Greater Upper Nile is a region of northeastern South Sudan. It is named for the White Nile, a tributary of the Nile River in North Africa, North and East Africa, East Africa.
History
The Greater Upper Nile region seceded from the Republic o ...
close to the
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
n border.
Richard Cockett
Richard Cockett (born 1961) is a British historian, journalist and writer.
He is a regional editor of ''The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on curren ...
Sudan: Darfur and the failure of an African state. 2010. p. 120, Hobbs the Printers Ltd., Totten, Hampshire. All of these activities he managed with his nine-room office manned by veteran business men supported by 400
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
ese men at a salary of $200 a month.
Although the house was heavily guarded with guards armed with machine guns on the ground floor,
bin Laden once missed an assassination attempt at this house attempted by
Takfiri
''Takfiri'' ( ar, تَكْفِيرِيّ, ' lit. "excommunicational") is an Arabic and Islamic term denoting a Muslim who excommunicates one of his/her coreligionists, i.e. who accuses another Muslim of being an apostate. Since according to t ...
s, an ultra extremist group who considered bin Laden's ways as
heretic
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
. Following this attack, his house was made more secure with more guards and
trench
A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit).
In geology, trenches result from eros ...
es dug in front and back of the house. This caused inconvenience to his neighbours who then wished that bin Laden would leave their neighbourhood.
After living in Sudan for more than 4 years, he left Sudan in May 1996, bitterly disappointed with political developments in the country he had invested so much in.
It was reported that the Chinese embassy took over the property as a residence in the years after bin Laden's departure,
but by 2011 it was said to have remained vacant since bin Laden was expelled from the country in 1996 because tenants feared that the United States might bomb it.
Description
Richard Miniter describes the house as follows:
On El Meshtal Street, a visitor finds bin Laden's walled compound. The exterior walls are pink and faded to filth. The house is not the most opulent in this Sudanese version of Bel Air. It is a vaguely Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
affair, three stories high, with a ridge running up its front. Everything about the exterior of the house indicates comfort. An aluminium-frame walkway topped with thin wooden slats assures shade from the driveway to the front door. Air conditioners hum.
The house was secured with a compound wall, painted pink but faded. At the sides of the house are a series of walled-in compounds.
This house was much more spacious and comfortable than the houses he lived in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and bin Laden kept his office on second floor. He would even meet people in the open yard in front of his house.
He also owned guest houses across the street which he purchased as homes for his top officers.
It is also said that bin Laden lived a very simple life. He owned no vehicles, and used no modern home appliances such as a
refrigerator
A refrigerator, colloquially fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to its external environment so th ...
or
air conditioner
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...
. He was reportedly also involved in experimental farming including
Al-Damazin Farms The Al-Damazin Farms, about south-east of Khartoum, Sudan, was an "enormous" farm owned and run by Osama bin Laden.
Bin Laden received the land on which the farms were based in payment by the Sudanese government for construction work he had perf ...
.
As of 2011 the gate to bin Laden's old house was tightly shut, and the unkempt garden and wild tree branches growing over the wall stand out in such a wealthy, well-maintained part of the city.
See also
*
Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad
Osama bin Laden's compound, known locally as the Waziristan Haveli ( ur, , Wazīristān Havelī, Waziristan Mansion), was a large, upper-class house within a walled compound used as a safe house for militant Islamist Osama bin Laden, who was s ...
References
External links
Image
{{Osama bin Laden
Buildings and structures in Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
Al-Qaeda safe houses
Secret places
Safe houses
Houses in Africa