Osama Bin Laden 'Once Stopped For Speeding'

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  Osama Bin Laden 'Once Stopped For Speeding'
  Osama bin Laden was stopped for speeding up to nine years before he was tracked down to a secret hideout in Pakistan, a new report has revealed.

The al Qaeda founder, who masterminded the 9/11 terror attacks, was travelling with two of his aides when they were pulled over by a policeman on their way home from a bazaar in Swat.

The wife of one of the men said her husband "very quickly settled the matter" and the group were allowed to drive on.

The revelation is made in a Pakistani government report, which investigates how bin Laden, once one of the world's most wanted men, was able to live in Pakistan undetected.

It found evidence of "culpable negligence and incompetence at almost all levels of government" and accused political, military and intelligence chiefs of a "sustained dereliction of duty".

The report, obtained by Al Jazeera, said bin Laden's Abbottabad hideout, with its high walls, barbed wire fence and isolated location, was "hardly normal".

"The extent of incompetence, to put it mildly, was astounding, if not unbelievable," it said.

Bin Laden was holed up in the complex for around six years, evading US troops as they waged their war on terror in Afghanistan.

He would wear a cowboy hat to avoid detection as he moved around the building and would eat apples and chocolate when he was feeling sluggish.

He was killed by US Navy Seals during a covert raid on the complex in May 2011.

The 336-page report, which is based on testimony from more than 200 witnesses, also confirmed Pakistani officials were not informed about the raid in advance.

They were allegedly kept in the dark amid fears bin Laden would be tipped off, although the report said there was nothing to suggest any current or former Pakistani officials helped him hide.

Earlier, it emerged that US military files on the raid were transferred from Pentagon computers to the CIA, where they are likely to avoid public scrutiny.

The records were moved in order to protect the identities of the Navy Seals, according to the US Inspector General, and officials denied it had been done to sidestep Freedom of Information Act requests.

YahooNews