Pakistanis and local and international media gather outside the compound of slain terror leader Osama bin Laden yesterday, following the night-time raid by US forces earlier this week. Picture: Getty Images

THE drab suburban house where Osama bin Laden met his death is bound to become a big tourist attraction, Pakistani officials say, thwarting US efforts to deprive the terrorist leader of a shrine.

"I can tell you for a fact that it will become a place of tourism," declared Muhammad Azfar Nisar, deputy civil chief of the city.

"Abbottabad is already a tourist location so the more visitors for us the better. People are already coming here from as far away as Lahore to see the house so why should we destroy the building? The more revenue the better."

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Though the site was temporarily put off limits by police who secured it for a visit by military intelligence and Pakistan's secret service, the security cordon around the compound was soon lifted. Hundreds of Pakistani sightseers have crowded around the sealed gates of No 254, the first of a potential wave of tourists keen to visit bin Laden's final refuge.

After US special forces shot him dead on Monday, his body was buried at sea, specifically to deny his supporters a symbolic rallying point or place of pilgrimage.

By Wednesday night (AEST), the dirt track outside the compound had the atmosphere of a county jamboree. Local stalls did a thriving trade in soft drinks and snacks as throngs of people examined the building's exterior. Some were clearly impressed.

"I've come here today to see a piece of our history," said Ahmed, 24, who had brought his 11-month-old daughter with him. "Osama was a good Muslim who fought for Islam. He was a hero to us.

"I expect in time to see all sorts of tourists here, even Japanese and Americans."

Others were not so convinced. "I had thought he would be living in a cave like a proper rebel outlaw," said Zulqurnain, 25, who had come with four friends. "But instead they say he was hiding here in a nice residential area. I'm a bit disappointed and can't believe it. Even so, I will come to visit again. Osama was our lion."

Enterprising locals were already charging journalists for access to balconies overlooking the compound, which was valued at $US1 million by US intelligence officials but at only a quarter of that price by more reasonable local estate agents. The doctor who sold the piece of land where bin Laden's house was built identified the buyer as Mohammad Arshad, a name matching one of two Pakistani men, either brothers or cousins, who were often seen coming out of the compound. Qazi Mahfooz ul-Haq said he had sold the plot to Mr Arshad in 2005. He described the buyer as a "modest, humble type of man" who claimed to be purchasing it for his uncle.

Abbottabad's Deputy Superintendent of Police, Aziz Afridi, confirmed Mr Arshad's ownership of No 254 but declined to give any further details of his whereabouts.

"It was our practice in this sensitive area to know who owned local houses," Mr Afridi said, "but we didn't know who was living in them."

The area - fertile farmland abutting Pakistan's leading military academy - had an influx of new residents after a huge earthquake in autumn 2005 forced villagers down from surrounding mountain valleys. City-dwellers fleeing the summer heat added to their number. The resulting product was a rootless, disconnected local society whose land records were often muddled. Contrary to popular opinion in the West, it may have been exactly the type of environment in which fugitives could find sanctuary and privacy.

"It has been a common saying in Abbottabad for some time that many terrorist families live here, which is why the place has been so peaceful," Dr Nisar added. "Until recently, this was the quietest city in the country."

The Times