Bin Laden compound was a command centre -US official

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The compound in Pakistan  where U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden was an “active command  and control center” where the al Qaeda leader retained  strategic, operational and tactical direction of the group, a  senior U.S. intelligence official said on today.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said  information recovered from the raid on bin Laden’s compound  represented the largest trove of intelligence ever obtained  from a single terrorism suspect.
“This compound in Abbottabad was an active command and  control center for al Qaeda’s top leader and it’s clear …  that he was not just a strategic thinker for the group,” the  official said. “He was active in operational planning and in  driving tactical decisions.”
The official released five video clips of bin Laden taken  from the compound, most of them showing the al Qaeda leader  evidently rehearsing for some of the videotape messages he  occasionally distributed to his followers.
One video segment, however, showed a gray-bearded bin Laden  wrapped in a blanket and apparently wearing a ski cap while  reviewing video images of himself in different settings.
It was not clear where the videos had been taped, but an  initial assessment indicated one clip in front of an armoire  may have been recorded at the compound.
“The materials reviewed over the past several days clearly  show that bin Laden remained an active leader in al Qaeda,  providing strategic, operational and tactical instructions to  the group,” the official said. “He was far from a figurehead.  He was an active player, making the recent operation even more  essential for our nation’s security.”