A controversial Pakistani cleric who runs an Islamic seminary for girls in the capital, Islamabad, has named the school's new library in honour of Osama bin Laden.

According to his spokesman, Tehsin Ullah, cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz wanted to pay tribute to the al Qaida chief who was killed by US commandos in 2011.

Mr Ullah said today that Mr Aziz considers Bin Laden to be a "martyr" for Islam.

Mr Aziz is also a prayer leader at the city's Red Mosque - a former militant hideout the army raided in 2007. The raid killed dozens and unleashed a wave of militant attacks across Pakistan.

The mosque runs two schools, one for boys and one for girls. The girls' school has an all-female staff and about 15,000 students.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.