Abbottabad students pay price of raid

A group of British schools,fearing negative publicity,cut off a partnership with students here after Osama bin Laden was killed,upsetting Pakistani participants who note that a key purpose of the programme was eradicating stereotypes.

The partnerships demise is an unusual example of fallout from the May 2 US raid that killed the al-Qaeda chief. Abbottabad residents and students had nothing to do with Osama or any of his activity, said Zafar Abbasi,an Abbottabad school official. Linking them with Osama is regrettable.

Since 2008,five schools in Abbottabad were partnered with four schools in Blackburn. The British Council oversaw the relationship under its Connecting Classrooms programme.