Secrets of the squalid lair: Bin Laden WAS still directing Al Qaeda terror attacks up until his death, claims U.S.

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• Home videos of Bin Laden in his lair
• Barack Obama says Bin Laden probably had support inside Pakistan
• 'Outtakes' footage shows him fluffing his lines in propaganda videos
• Top terrorist was so vain he clipped and dyed his beard before recording
• Al Jazeera and BBC's Arabic service are among his 'favourite' channels
• Information gathered in compound is 'single largest collection' ever
• Litter-strewn compound was barely habitable

Osama Bin Laden was actively directing Al Qaeda from his squalid lair in a Pakistan town until the time of his death, U.S. officials have claimed.

Rather than being just a figurehead for the terrorist group, evidence gathered from his compound shows that he was actually a lot more involved in directing the group than previously thought.

Documents show that Bin Laden was giving strategic directions to Al Qaeda's affiliates as far away as Somalia and Yemen, senior U.S. officials have said.

Not only did he have an active role in leading the group, but the base in Abbattobad was also the command and control centre for the terrorist organisation's movements.

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Creature comforts: A detailed image shows the objects around Osama Bin Laden in his Abbottabad compound, including TVs, a PC, digital decoder... and a boster pillow

In the footage, bin Laden can be seen watching himself and President Obama on his TV

The papers also suggest that there are other key insurgents scattered throughout Pakistan, not just in the border regions, and many are being supported by locals.

Barack Obama will appear this evening on CBS channel's 60 Minutes programme where he will say: 'We think that there had to be some sort of support network for Bin Laden inside of Pakistan. But we don't know who or what that support network was.

'We don't know whether there might have been some people inside of government, people outside of government, and that's something that we have to investigate and, more importantly, the Pakistani government has to investigate.

'And we've already communicated to them, and they have indicated they have a profound interest in finding out what kinds of support networks bin Laden might have had. But these are questions that we're not going to be able to answer three or four days after the event.

Masterminds: Bin Laden with his 'deputy' Ayman al-Zawahri who is widely expected to take over leadership of al Qaeda

Rubbish-strewn: With paint peeling off the walls, the dirt-infested compound appears barely habitable and is a far cry from original claims the compound was a sophisticated £1m hideaway

'It's going to take some time for us to be able to exploit the intelligence that we were able to gather on site.'

Following last Sunday's raid by Navy SEALS, a 'playbook' of Al Qaeda operations has fallen into the hands of American intelligence services that show potential targets for terrorist attacks and information on safe houses across the world.

The cache of electronic and handwritten documents show plots to destroy dams and poison water supplies along with targeting transport networks - including both rail and air.

One official described the evidence gathered as a 'strategic guide for how to attack the U.S.' adding that Bin Laden appears to have thought of himself as the top ranking member of the terrorist group.

Squalid: It seems hard to believe the mastermind of 9-11 and countless other terrorist atrocities lived in such conditions

The latest revelations are expected to be followed by a mine of information coming out about Bin laden's life and the links he had with previous plots.

It could also give more weight to intelligence gathered from detainees and various forms of intercepts and surveillance.

Among his favourite channels are Al Jazeera and BBC Arabic

Among the newly released data from inside the secret compound is a series of video tapes. They show him sat in his compound, watching video footage of himself and rehearsing his lines for propaganda video.

At one point there is a recording of his favourite TV channels and among those listed are Al Jazeera and the BBC's Arabic service.

The five home videos, seized by Navy SEALS, show him watching footage of president Barack Obama on the news, flicking between channels as he sits on the floor.

They also show him watching himself on news programmes and there is footage of him rehearsing his propaganda messages to Al Qaeda members across the world.

In a move that makes him appear vain and obsessed with his portrayal by the world's media, his beard looks as though it has been trimmed and dyed in each of the videos.

The government-selected clips also provide an opportunity for the U.S. to paint Bin Laden in an unflattering light to his supporters.

The videos include outtakes of his propaganda films, showing the terror chief fluffing his lines and one, titled Message to the American People, was believed to have been filmed some time last autumn, according to a CIA official.

Vain: In the footage he appears to have dyed and trimmed his beard, concerned with his portrayal by the media

Bin Laden continued to lead the terrorist organisation and his compound was the command and control centre

The clips are thought to be a tiny part of the largest collection of terrorist materials ever collected. As well as the footage, there were documents and telephone numbers that it is hoped can break the back of the organisation behind the September 11 attacks in new York and the bombings on London Underground in 2005.

It has been known for some time that Bin Laden and Al Qaeda monitored the news but it was thought that he lived in caves and so he did not have information about 'real-time' events.

However, next to his small TV on a rickety table was a satellite receiver meaning he had access to up-to-date information. Next to him a computer can also be seen, despite reports by officials that there were no internet or telephone lines running from the house.

Conditions in the compound appear to be squalid with paint peeling from the walls and strewn with rubbish.

There is dirt everywhere and is quite a ramshackle that resembles a building site rather than the centre of a terrorist organisation - a far cry from the initial claims that it was a sophisticated $1million hideaway.

Since the discovery of the compound, Afghan Taliban members have warned that the U.S. should not rejoice in Bin Laden's death because his killing would be avenged.

They suggested that events would only boost morale of the insurgents saying 'happiness will turn to sadness.'

As the U.S. capitalises on the information it has gathered from the compound raid, it has already launched at least one drone strike in Pakistan in the days since Bin Laden was killed and in Yemen on Thursday there was a failed attempt by America to take out the man tipped to succeed him, Anwar al-Awlaki.

The strikes have been carried out by CIA drones as U.S. military and intelligence officials attempt to take advantage of the data they swept up in the raid before insurgents have a chance to change plans or locations.

The raid on Bin Laden's compound deep inside the Pakistan border has further eroded already strained relations between Washington and Islamabad, and angry Pakistani officials have said they want the U.S. to reduce its military presence in their country.

Worth $250,000: The Bin Laden compound in Abbottabad in Pakistan was said to be worth $1 million. But local experts put the figure much lower, and footage shows it in a run-down state

Terror lair: The revealing pictures come as it emerged that home videos and propaganda tapes found in the compound may be released which show Bin Laden strolling around his secret lair

The Pakistani army acknowledged it had failed to find Bin laden adding that it would review cooperation with the U.S. if there is another similar attack.

Pakistani officials have denied sheltering Bin Laden, and they have criticised the U.S. operation as a violation of their country's sovereignty.

The same day as the Yemen raid the FBI and Department of Homeland Security said there were plans to derail a train on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

A document said: 'As of February 2010, Al Qaeda was said to be contemplating conducting an operation against trains at an unspecified location in the U.S. on the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001.

Assassination: This picture appears to show a stain, perhaps blood. The images come as Al-Qaeda confirmed Bin Laden's death for the first time, vowed revenge

New satellite image shows where the U.S. helicopter crashed during the Bin Laden raid

'As one option, Al Qaeda was looking into trying to tip a train by tampering with the rails so that the train would fall off the track at either a valley or a bridge.'

However, press secretary Matt Chandler added that things could change and the plot was 'based on initial reporting, which is often misleading and inaccurate and subject to change.'

Glimpse: A 2002 interview reportedly with Bin Laden's fifth wife reveals details of a what life with a terror chief was like

He added: 'We remain at a heightened state of vigilance, but do not intend to issue [a National Terrorism Advisory System] alert at this time.'

Mr Chandler said the Transportation Security Administration would also send a bulletin to its rail sector stakeholders.

'We have no information of any imminent terrorist threat to the U.S. rail sector, but wanted to make our partners aware of the alleged plotting,' he added.

President Obama has made it clear that the U.S. will take action wherever necessary to root out al Qaeda, which has declared war on the United States and has been using Pakistan as a base to plot and direct attacks from there and other insurgent locations around the world.

The official also said there are no plans to scale back U.S. training of the Pakistani frontier corps and army. But the decision is up to Pakistan.

U.S. administration leaders have been careful not to directly accuse the Pakistani government of being complicit in the existence of sanctuaries that have cloaked Bin Laden and his lieutenants.

But it strains credibility that the most wanted man in the world could have been hiding there in a large compound without Pakistani officials knowing.

On Friday, President Obama spent time with the U.S. commandos who killed Bin Laden, telling them 'job well done' when he addressed 2,000 troops.

His words came after meeting privately with the full assault team - including the army helicopter pilots and Navy SEAL commandos - who executed the dangerous raid and whose identities are being shrouded in secrecy.

See clips from the videos here