Amusement Park Planned for Town Where Osama bin Laden was Killed

Pakistan officials are hoping to build a $30m (£19m) amusement park in the town of Abbottabad, where Osama bin Laden was killed by US armed forces.

The 50-acre development on the edge of Abbottabad will include a zoo, artificial waterfalls and restaurants.

It is hoped the project will bring a much-needed tourism boost to the town, now best known as the place where Bin Laden hid and was eventually killed by US navy seals on 2 May 2011.

Syed Aqil Shah, the provincial minister for tourism and sports said: "The amusement city will be built on 50 acres in the first phase but later will be extended to 500 acres.

"It will have a heritage park, wildlife zoo, food street, adventure and paragliding clubs, waterfalls and jogging tracks."

Work on the park is due to begin in late February and is expected to take eight years to complete.

Located around 30 miles (50km) north of the Pakistani capital Islamabad, Abbottabad previously had a reputation as a popular spot for wealthy families to visit away from the capital. However, its reputation has taken a hit since the killing of bin Laden.

Abbottabad is also home to Pakistan's elite military academy, which was accused of incompetence following the discovery of the world's most wanted man hiding in plain sight just a few hundred yards away.

Since Bin Laden's death, some have expressed fear that the compound where the 9/11 mastermind hid could be turned into a shrine to al-Qaida.

But Shah insisted the construction of the amusement park was simply about tourism, not improving the town's now tainted image.

"This project has nothing to do with Osama bin Laden," he said.

"We are working to promote tourism and amusement facilities in the whole province and this project is one of those facilities."