Pakistani Educator Was Responsible For Tagging Of Osama Bin Laden Compound

The man responsible for the tagging of the wall of Osama bin Laden’s Pakistan compound is a 56-year-old educator who advertised a “girls college” on the residence of an extremist who did not believe women were worth educating.

In a telephone interview from his Pakistan home, Iftikhar Ali Shah told TSG that two years ago he hired a sign painter to advertise Jamia Girls College, which he planned to open in Bilal Town, the Abbottabad neighborhood where the al Qaeda boss resided (until, of course, he was killed during a U.S. raid Sunday).

As seen above (and here), the sign painter stopped near the entrance to bin Laden’s compound and added an extensive pitch for the school, along with several contact numbers and a web address. Shah said that he did not believe his sign painter sought anyone’s permission to tag the 12-foot wall of the terrorist’s hiding place.

Shah said that he was eventually unable to open the college in Bilal Town because local government officials ruled that the school could not operate in a residential area. Shah, who said he holds a master’s degree, added that he continues to run a school he founded more than a decade ago and which has about 200 enrolled students.

Since he was unable to open Jamia Girls College, Shah said the school’s corresponding web site (jamiagirlscollege.com) was never built. But Shah added that he was pleased to learn that at least one of his painter’s signs had survived.