‘Then who are you?’ he asked with contorted brows. There was a hint of accusation in his voice as if perhaps he thought I was trying to identify him.
‘I am the camp manager at Mundihar. I am recovering here from flu.’
His eyes narrowed as he asked his final question. ‘Where are you from?’
I told him ‘Scotland’ and on hearing this, without any further conversation, he turned and moved as quickly as his lame left leg could travel back to the car with the driver’s engine still running. It was a light blue four seated car. He sat in the back, bent double. His associate sat with the driver in the front. The car left the compound at speed and left me dazed as I saw it turn right. I saw the road sign above the compound indicate the direction he was taking – it was the road to Abbottabad. Yes, there was no doubt whatsoever in my mind. Not only by his sudden departure but his stature and perfect English, I had met Osama bin Laden. I returned to my mattress and saw my Kalashnikov. A thought ran through my head of having used it but the consequences I’d face would have been dire.
There was much respect shown to Usama bin Laden locally as one who had stood up to the might of the USA. Furthermore, when I received some visitors that night I was told he was often seen around the shops in Mansehra and Mundihar, towns with a joint population of 4 million people. The date was Sunday 26th February 2006 and Usama had just acquired his home in Abbottabad.
On my return to Scotland, I informed my member of parliament and the Chief Constable about the world’s leading terrorist in Abbottabad but they thought I was wrong. Both told me he was hiding in an Afghan mountain retreat. I suspect they thought I was deluded.
On 2nd May 2011 Usama bin Laden paid the price. He was shot by US Seals, in Abbottabad, and buried at sea under strict Islamic laws.
Occasionally I wonder what might have happened had I taken my Kalashnikov with me to the door? Might I have, almost by accident, arrested the world’s most wanted man? Or shot him, perhaps fatally? And in the end would whatever might have happened, have made any difference? Osama bin Laden is dead now, but at that moment when we met, he was just another man, like me. In my heart I can not begrudge him those extra five years—clearly, he lived in constant fear of capture or worse, and some might say that was punishment in itself.
About the Author
Miller Caldwell is a Scottish novelist. He graduated from London University having studied African industrial development, traditional African religions and the colonial history of West Africa. He has had articles published in health magazines and The Scottish Review.
In a life of humanitarian work in Ghana, Pakistan and Scotland, he has gained remarkable insights into human nature. He brought an African president to tears in West Africa in 2000 and he confronted Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad in 2006. He retired from being the regional reporter to the children’s hearings in Dumfries & Galloway as he has mild cognitive impairment. He was, for twelve years, the local chair of the Scottish Association for The Study of Offending. He also served on the committee of the Society of Authors in Scotland as its events manager. This is his 23rd book.
Miller plays a variety of brass, woodwind and keyboard instruments. They cure writer’s block. Married, he has two daughters and lives in Dumfries.
Copyright
Published by Clink Street Publishing 2020
Copyright © 2020
First edition.
The author asserts the moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior consent of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that with which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
ISBN: 978–1–913136–78–9 Paperback
978–1–913136–79–6 Ebook