posted 11-24-2001 03:16 PM            

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Osama bin Laden's underpants were hanging up to dry in the bathroom of his house outside Jalalabad. They were striped grey and black cotton boxers, with a label reading Angelo Petrico, a size XXL ­ large for such a lean-looking man.

They may, it is true, have belonged to one of his bodyguards, sons or advisers who lived with him in a maze-like compound 20 minutes outside the town ­ but I lifted them from the clothes line anyway, a souvenir from a place full of more sinister and deadly objects.

Since the retreat of their Taliban protectors a fortnight ago, fascinating relics of al-Qa'ida's network have been discovered in their former camp and hideout ­ exercise books full of scribbled notes on nuclear and chemical materials, weapons manuals and many tons of live explosives. There are items here that tell a more personal story of the private lives of the al-Qa'ida family.

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