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Bin Laden wife: I didn't leave hideout for 5 years

UN human rights investigators calls on US to disclose whether there had been any plan to capture terror chief

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>> and the latest on the raid and killing of osama bin laden . ann curry is in abbottabad again this morning. good morning.
>> reporter: good morning to you, meredith. a few hours ago, a u.s. drone attack with multiple missiles fired was reported. this is likely to further inflame the already tense situation here. also today, a major push-back from the army. roads cleared, reporters, every cleared from osama bin laden 's compound as officials here want this embarrassment to end. this morning, new video emerged, shot by pakistani intelligence services inside osama bin laden 's compound. this as u.s. officials release initial details of what special forces found there on laptops, papers and cell phones. no references to specific plots. but, they say, it appears al qaeda operatives weighed options as far back as february 2010 as to whether or not they should attack trains on the september 11 anniversary as they have in britain, spain and india. embarrassed about the way the u.s. took down osama bin laden on thursday the most powerful man in pakistan called sunday's raid a misadventure warming in a statement that any similar action violating the sovereignty of pakistan would jeopardize the level of military/intelligence cooperation with the united states . a respected pakistani journalist and bin laden expert says security is gathering intelligence from three of bin laden 's wives taken into custody at the compound.
>> i think they can provide information to the investigators which areas where he was hiding, what kind of people he was meeting, and especially from how long he was hiding in pakistan .
>> reporter: u.s. analysts piecing together the life of one of those wives, amal asada was just 18 when she was married to osama bin laden then at 43 becoming his last and favorite wife. she was known to be devoted to him. she lunged forward seemingly to protect osama. she was shot in the leg. she was in the room when her husband died. she's from yemen, a country osama considered his homeland. she was like him -- simple, pious and not interested in luxury like his other four wives. it appears she lived her life on the run.
>> she traveled with bin laden during one of the most difficult parts of his life when he was mostly on the run traveling across pakistan , afghanistan with few luxuries yet she stuck by him.
>> reporter: there are reports that amal, now in custody, has told interrogators that osama bin laden and family members had been living in the compound for the past five years. she will know details about the life of the world's most wanted man and u.s. officials will want to speak with her. pakistan security is reportedly considering lettinging u.s. officials have access to osama bin laden 's wives but not to hand them over. also there is a report in the washington post that the cia had a safehouse here used to monitor movements at the osama bin laden compound. if so, locals here still don't know where that safehouse was. david, back to you.
>> all right, ann. thank you very much. reporting from pakistan

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NBC, msnbc.com and news services

updated 13 minutes ago

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WASHINGTON — One of Osama bin Laden's wives has claimed she lived in the al-Qaida chief's final hideout for five years without leaving the upper floors of the house, a Pakistani intelligence official said Friday.

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The Yemeni-born woman is one of three wives of bin Laden currently being interrogated in Pakistan. Authorities are also holding eight or nine children found at the compound after the U.S. raid. Story: Al-Qaida confirms bin Laden's death Their accounts will show how bin Laden spent his time and could offer glimpses into the inner workings of al-Qaida. Speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, the official did not say on Friday whether the Yemeni wife has said that bin Laden was also living there since 2006. Video: New raid details reveal bin Laden on move (on this page) 'Cash-strapped' A senior Pakistani intelligence official also told reporters late Thursday that bin Laden was "cash strapped" in his final days and that al-Qaida had split into two factions, with the larger one controlled by the group's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri. The official didn't provide details or elaborate how his agency made the conclusions about bin Laden. The image of Pakistan's intelligence agency has been battered in the wake of Monday's U.S. commando raid that killed bin Laden. Portraying him as isolated and weak may be aimed at trying to deflect attention from that. U.N. human rights investigators also called on the U.S. on Friday to disclose the full facts surrounding the killing of bin Laden, in particular whether there had been any plan to capture him. Christof Heyns, U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and Martin Scheinin, special rapporteur on protecting human rights while countering terrorism, said that in certain exceptional cases, deadly force may be used in "operations against terrorists." "However, the norm should be that terrorists be dealt with as criminals, through legal processes of arrest, trial and judicially-decided punishment," the independent experts said in a joint statement. "It will be particularly important to know if the planning of the mission allowed an effort to capture bin Laden." It was important to get this information "into the open," according to the investigators who report to the U.N. Human Rights Council whose 47 members include the U.S. Meanwhile, NBC News reported Thursday that al-Qaida considered attacking U.S. trains on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks , according to an initial look at DVDs, computers and other documents seized at the raid on Bin Laden's home. Details of the plan emerged as some of the first intelligence was gleaned from the trove of information found in bin Laden's residence when Navy SEALs killed the al-Qaida leader and four of his associates. Video: Info from bin Laden raid yields train intel Counterterrorism officials said they believe the plot was only in the initial planning stages, and there is no recent intelligence about any active plan for such an attack. Extensive surveillance of bin Laden's hideout was carried out from a nearby CIA safe house in Abbottabad, U.S. officials said. The U.S. officials told the Washington Post that the safe house was the base for intelligence gathering that began after bin Laden's compound was discovered last August and which was so exhaustive the CIA asked Congress to reallocate tens of millions of dollars to fund it. The fact bin Laden was found in a garrison town — his compound was not far from a major military academy — has embarrassed Pakistan and the covert raid by U.S. commandos has angered its military.

Death of Osama bin Laden

On Thursday, Pakistan's army acknowledged its own "shortcomings" in efforts to find the al-Qaida leader but threatened to review cooperation with Washington if there is another similar violation of Pakistani sovereignty. The army said its Inter-Services Intelligence agency had arrested or killed about 100 al-Qaida terrorists and associates with or without CIA cooperation. Story: Pakistan pays US lobbyists to deny it helped bin Laden National humiliation In a statement, the army said it provided initial intelligence on the whereabouts of bin Laden to the CIA, but that the Americans developed it further and did not share it with the ISI "contrary to the existing practice between the two services." The tough-sounding statement was a sign of the anger in the army. It also appeared aimed at appeasing politicians, the public and the media in the country over what's viewed by many there as a national humiliation delivered by a deeply unpopular America. About 1,500 Pakistani Islamists protested on Friday against bin Laden's killing near Quetta, saying more figures like him would arise to wage holy war against the United States. Story: Protesters condemn 'brutal killing' of bin Laden Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir also warned Thursday of "disastrous consequences" if the U.S. staged a similar attack on its territory.

While international concerns are centered on suspicions that elements of the security forces sheltered bin Laden, most Pakistanis seem more upset that uninvited American soldiers flew into the country, landed on the ground and launched an attack on a house — and that the army was unaware and unable to stop them. Ties between the two countries were already strained before the raid because of American allegations that Islamabad was failing to crack down on Afghan Taliban factions sheltering on Pakistani soil. Pakistan was angered over stepped-up U.S. drone strikes and the case of Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor who killed two Pakistanis in January. The tone of the army statement was in sharp contrast to the initial response to the raid by the country's civilian leaders. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had hailed the operation as a "great victory" and made no mention of any concerns over sovereignty. The army statement was issued after the country's 12 top generals met with army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, regarded as the most powerful man in the country, to discuss the operation and its implications on "military to military relations with the United States." Slate: Myth of bin Laden in life and death It said Kayani told his colleagues that a decision had been made to reduce the number of U.S. military personnel to the "minimum essential" levels. The statement gave no more details, and an army spokesman declined to elaborate. The U.S. has about 275 declared U.S. military personnel in Pakistan at any one time, some of them helping train the Pakistani army. U.S. officials were not immediately available for comment. The army also warned the United States not to launch another attack like the one that took out bin Laden. On Wednesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner did not rule out the possibility the U.S. would do just that. Many of the world's most wanted militants are believed to be in Pakistan, including Ayman al-Zawahri, the man likely to succeed bin Laden, as well as leaders of the Afghan insurgency like Mullah Omar and Siraj Haqqani. Story: Plenty of targets remain after bin Laden Fears over India, which the Pakistani army considers the country's main threat, are also a factor in the backlash. The army is worried that unless it reacts strongly to the U.S. raid, India could use a similar argument to launch a helicopter strike across the eastern border to take out militants threatening it. Some of those militants are at least tolerated by Pakistani authorities. India is not believed to have drones. For many here, the United States is perceived as more of a danger to Pakistan than bin Laden even though al-Qaida and its associates have carried out scores of suicide bombings in recent years, many in public places or mosques and shrines. "If another country's aircraft intrudes on your territory, you should shoot it down instead of turning a blind eye," said Fateh Ullah, a 38-year-old breadmaker in Abbottabad, the town where bin Laden was hiding. "What we should care about is the safety of our country." Slideshow: After the raid: Inside bin Laden's compound (on this page) The account of Monday's attack given by Bashir, the foreign secretary, was the most detailed public one yet by a Pakistani official. He said the first that Pakistan knew of the raid was when the helicopters buzzed over Abbottabad after evading Pakistani radar. He said troops were sent to the scene "once it became clear they were not our helicopters" but that the Americans had already left by the time they arrived. Pakistan then scrambled two F-16 fighter jets but the American choppers had apparently already made it back to Afghanistan before they could be intercepted, he said. He said that about 3 a.m. Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen called Kayani, the Pakistani army chief, to inform him that the raid had taken place. 'We will never forget' A U.S. acknowledgment that bin Laden was unarmed when shot in the head — as well as the sea burial of his body, a rare practice in Islam — have also drawn criticism in the Arab world and Europe, where some have warned of a backlash. Few Americans appear to have any qualms about how bin Laden was killed, and on Thursday, scores of people cheered President Barack Obama during a visit to New York's Ground Zero, site of the twin towers al-Qaida levelled on Sept. 11, 2001, to comfort a city still scarred by attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Story: Obama visits Ground Zero: 'We will never forget' Obama said the killing of bin Laden "sent a message around the world, but also sent a message here back home, that when we say we will never forget, we mean what we say." The Associated Press, NBC News and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Photos: The compound

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A Pakistani woman photographs her daughter on Thursday, May 5, at a gate of the compound where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was caught and killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan. (Aqeel Ahmed / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation
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School girls pass by armed Pakistani policemen guarding the sealed entrance to the compound in Abbottabad, May 5, in which Osama bin Laden had been living. (MD Nadeem / EPA) Share Back to slideshow navigation
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Related story Secret, stealth chopper in compound wreckage?
Part of a damaged helicopter rests in the compound after U.S. Navy SEAL commandos killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, May 2, in a photo made available on May 4. (Reuters) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Boys herd sheep past the compound where U.S. Navy SEAL commandos killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad May 5. (Akhtar Soomro / Reuters) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Pakistani security officials arrive at the Osama bin Laden compound in Abbottabad on Wednesday, May 4. (Aamir Qureshi / AFP - Getty Images) Share Back to slideshow navigation
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Local residents gather outside a burned section of bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad. (Aamir Qureshi / AFP - Getty Images) Share Back to slideshow navigation
A Pakistani police officer gestures at a checkpoint along a road leading to a house where bin Laden was captured and killed in Abbottabad. Area residents were still confused and suspicious about bin Laden's death, which took place before dawn on Monday. (Anjum Naveed / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Pakistani children look out from a high vantage point at bin Laden's compound on Tuesday, May 3. (Aqeel Ahmed / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Pakistan army troops remove canvas screens from outside the compound's house. (Anjum Naveed / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Neighbors and news media gather around the compound, right, after authorities ease security around the property. (Aqeel Ahmed / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation
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A satellite image, taken June 15, 2005, shows the Abbottabad compound, center, where bin Laden was killed in on Monday. (DigitalGlobe via Reuters) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Related video Inside bin Laden’s Pakistani compound
A Pakistani soldier secures the compound. (T. Mughal / EPA) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Related video New details on mission to kill bin Laden
The compound is seen in flames after it was attacked early May 2 in this still image taken from cellphone video footage. (Reuters) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Part of a damaged U.S. MH-60 helicopter lies the compound. The helicopter was destroyed by U.S. forces after a mechanical failure left it unable to take off. (Reuters) Share Back to slideshow navigation
A still image from video obtained by ABC News shows blood stains in the interior of the house where bin Laden was killed. (ABC News via Reuters) Share Back to slideshow navigation
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Aerial views released by the Department of Defense show the area in Abbottabad in 2004, left, before the house was built, and in 2011, right. (Department of Defense via Reuters) Share Back to slideshow navigation
A graphic released by the Department of Defense shows the compound where bin Laden was killed. (Department of Defense via Reuters) Share Back to slideshow navigation
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Pakistani soldiers and police officers patrol near the house, background, where bin Laden had lived. (Anjum Naveed / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Related video Rice: 'Surprised' where bin Laden was found
A general view of the city of Abbottabad. Signs on the hillside say "Home of Piffers" and "Home of Balochis," in reference to two regiments of the Pakistani army that are headquartered in Abbottabad. (Aslam Jadoon / EPA) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Related video Bin Laden’s hiding place north of Pakistani capital
The hideout of bin Laden is seen the day after his death. (Farooq Naeem / AFP - Getty Images) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Students look toward the compound from a nearby religious school in Abbottabad. (Faisal Mahmood / Reuters) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Related video Inside the Situation Room: 'We got him'
Pakistani security officials survey the walls of the compound where bin Laden was killed. The outer walls were between 10 and 18 feet high. (MD Nadeem / EPA) Share Back to slideshow navigation
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Schoolchildren walk in a street in Thanda Choha village, Abbottabad, near to bin Laden's compound. (MD Nadeem / EPA) Share Back to slideshow navigation
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Related video Pakistan's credibility questioned
Pakistani soldiers stand guard near the compound May 2. (Anjum Naveed / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation
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A worker prepares traditional bread at a shop that claims to have sold bread to residents of bin Laden's compound, in Thanda Choha village, Abbottabad. (MD Nadeem / EPA) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Boys collect pieces of metal from a wheat field outside bin Laden's house, seen in the background, on May 3. People showed off small parts of what appeared to be a U.S. helicopter that the U.S. says malfunctioned and was blown up by the American team as it retreated. (Anjum Naveed / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Related video Timeline of the Osama bin Laden operation
Pakistani security officials stand guard at the main entrance to the compound on May 3. (MD Nadeem / EPA) Share Back to slideshow navigation

Aqeel Ahmed / AP
Above: Slideshow (27) After the raid: Inside bin Laden's compound - The compound
Rehan Khan / EPA
Slideshow (72) After the raid: Inside bin Laden's compound - World reaction
Rehan Khan / EPA
Slideshow (72) World reacts to death of Osama bin Laden - World reaction
Aqeel Ahmed / AP
Slideshow (27) World reacts to death of Osama bin Laden - The compound
Faisal Mahmood / Reuters
Slideshow (70) Pakistan: A nation in turmoil - Recent images
Athar Hussain / Reuters
Slideshow (123) Pakistan: A nation in turmoil - 2010

Tariq Mahmood / AFP - Getty Images
Slideshow (56) Pakistan: A nation in turmoil - 2009

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Timeline: A timeline of Osama bin Laden's life

Considered enemy No. 1 by the U.S., the Saudi millionaire is the perpetrator behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Click on key dates to learn more about the founder of al-Qaida, an international terror network.

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Friday, May 6, 2011

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BREAKING NEWS: Economy created higher-than-expected 244,000 jobs in April; jobless rate at 9%

Bin Laden wife: I didn't leave hideout for 5 years

UN human rights investigators calls on US to disclose whether there had been any plan to capture terror chief

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