Sen. Levin: Pakistan Has Tough Questions to Answer

Al-Qaeda leader had lived in Abbottabad compound for 5 to 6 years

(NEWSER) - The scene is shaping up to be a gruesome one: As reported earlier, Osama bin Laden was shot above his left eye, but a US official adds that the bullet blew away part of his skull, and that a second bullet hit him in the chest, reports CBS News . The White House has also been backtracking on two previously reported details, adding to the confusion: A senior official now tells journalists that bin Laden was not armed when he was killed, contrary to earlier reports that he fired a weapon in self-defense. And as for the wife-as-human-shield story, a second official says that "a different guy’s wife was killed," and that a bin Laden wife was "injured but not killed." More»

But Pakistani intelligence agent learned little

(NEWSER) - Osama bin Laden's three wives mostly stayed mum while being questioned, reveals the Pakistani intelligence agent who interrogated them. Despite speaking with them (or, at least, trying to) once or twice a week for months, the agent tells Reuters he didn't garner much that was useful. But it seemed clear that they were devoted to their husband. "They were all nostalgic whenever they talked about him," the agent says. While the older two mostly kept silent, the youngest, Amal al-Sadah, "was always angry whenever I spoke with her." More»

Pakistan jails Shakil Afridi for treason

(NEWSER) - The Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA take down the world's most notorious terrorist will spend the next 33 years of his life in prison for his troubles. Dr. Shakil Afridi ran a vaccination program that the US used to verify Osama bin Laden's presence in Abbottabad, reports Reuters , and Pakistan today slapped him with the stiff sentence for treason. Adding insult to injury, he was ordered to pay a fine of about $3,500—or spend an extra three and a half years behind bars, notes the AP . More»

Documents show he was frustrated with al-Qaeda

(NEWSER) - By the time SEAL Team Six ended his life a year ago, Osama bin Laden had grown pretty frustrated with al-Qaeda. The US today released some of the documents SEALs made off with when they raided bin Laden's Abbottabad compound, the Washington Post reports, and they reveal that the terrorist leader was upset by his network's attacks on fellow Muslims—and lack of attacks on Western targets. He believed the attacks, along with a clumsy media operation, were turning Muslims against al-Qaeda. More»

Anniversary is nigh, and details keep trickling out

(NEWSER) - Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death, and current and former US officials are apparently marking the date by revealing more tidbits contained in the 10,000-plus documents recovered from computers, hard drives, and storage devices found in his Abbottabad hideout. Many of them are old-hat (he wanted to kill Obama , he thought about rebranding al-Qaeda ). Other highlights:

• A former intelligence official tells the Washington Post that, according to his writings, bin Laden was none-too-pleased about an idea cooked up by al-Qaeda-linked terrorists: to build a "human lawnmower" out of a pickup truck and rotating blades that could be driven into crowds. Bin Laden "felt it conflicted with his vision for what he wanted al-Qaeda to be."