Ghoulish attraction: Pakistani children make the most of a vantage point to see Bin Laden's final bolthole in Abbottabad. Sightseers have been flocking to the site this week(dailymail.co.uk) |
Click for more photos of the compound where Bin Laden was killed
The compound where Bin Laden was killed has become a ghoulish tourist attraction. Sightseers have been flocking to the spot on the fringes of upmarket Abbottabad, Pakistan, where the Al Qaeda leader met his end. While the gates to the terror chief’s compound remain shut, visitors have been given free access to the surrounding area after Pakistani military investigators finished scouring the house. Local resident Ali Abbas, 43, who has begun a campaign to turn Bin Laden’s final home into an official tourist site, welcomed the interest, and claimed many more visitors could follow from Europe and the US Mr Abbas said: ‘Westerners are crazy people. Even if locals turn up or not, foreigners will definitely come if it is declared a tourist site. It will be very good for the city. People should visit and see where the world’s biggest terrorist lived.’ Mr Abbas said the compound should be untouched so it could remain a piece of history. ‘They should let media in to photograph the house from inside,’ he said. ‘They will come when the security situation gets little a better, but it must first be declared a tourist place.’ Whether Mr Abbas’s enthusiasm is shared by the authorities is in question, however. Allowing the compound and bolthole to be turned into a museum would risk it becoming a shrine to terror. (Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies)
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本•拉登被击毙时藏身的院落如今成为了一处“恐怖”旅游目的地。 游客正涌入巴基斯坦重镇阿伯塔巴德的郊区,基地组织头目拉登正是在这里殒命。 尽管拉登藏身院落的大门紧闭,但在巴基斯坦军方调查员搜查完院落后,游客已被获准参观院落周围。 43岁的当地居民阿里•阿巴斯非常欢迎大家来游览,他表示会有更多的欧洲游客和美国游客前来。阿巴斯已经发起了一项将拉登最后的藏身院落变为正式旅游景点的活动。 阿巴斯说:“西方人很疯狂。在宣布为旅游景点后,不管当地人感不感兴趣,外国人肯定会来。这对这座城市很有好处。人们应该看看世界最大的恐怖头目是怎样生活的。” 阿巴斯表示,院落应保持原貌,这样才能留住这段历史。他说:“应该让媒体进去拍摄房子里面的样子。” “安全形势好转后,游客就会来了,但首先得宣布这里为旅游景点。” 巴基斯坦当局是否也有同样的热情不得而知。把这处院落兼藏身处改建为博物馆有可能使其成为恐怖主义者的圣地。 相关阅读 (中国日报网英语点津 Julie 编辑: 冯明惠) |
Vocabulary: ghoulish: strangely diabolical or cruel; monstrous(残忍的,恐怖的) upmarket: appealing or catering to high-income consumers; of high quality; not easily affordable or accessible(高级的,高档的) bolthole: a place or avenue of escape or refuge(躲藏处,避难处) |