Animal rights activists request permission to decorate bin Laden compound

A British animal rights organization has asked the Pakistani government for permission to promote peace by decorating the compound where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was killed last month, the organization announced Thursday.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said they had written to President Asif Ali Zardari, asking him to allow them paint the compound walls with slogans reading, "Give Peas a Chance - Go Vegan" and "Nonviolence begins on your plate."

	Locals walking past the Abbottabad compound where bin Laden was killed.
	Photo by: New York Times

"The art work will feature images of peas arranged to represent different religious symbols, including the Christian cross, the Muslim star and crescent, the Hindu Aum, and the Jewish Star of David," said PETA president Ingrid Newkirk.

PETA campaigns against the slaughter of animals for food and advocates the use of alternative food sources found in plants.

Bin Laden's vast compound in Pakistan's northwestern city of Abbottabad has attracted huge media attention since May 2 when US commandoes stormed it, killing the al-Qaida chief.

The Pakistani government gave the media brief access to the compound, located a few hundred meters from a military academy, before sealing off the site in mid-May with hundreds of troops and policemen.

Officials have reportedly said the whole compound will be demolished once it has been fully searched, to avoid it turning into a shrine to bin Laden.