No country seeking return of relatives
Source: Agencies |
May 9, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
PAKISTANI authorities still have three of Osama bin Laden's wives and eight of his children in custody, nearly a week after the raid that killed the Saudi terrorist leader, and no countries have asked for their return, the government said yesterday.
Pakistan gained custody of bin Laden's family members after the covert United States operation on May 2 that killed the al-Qaida chief and four others at his hide-out in the northwestern city of Abbottabad.
Their questioning could provide more information on the military operation and help reveal how bin Laden was able to avoid capture for nearly 10 years after the September 11, 2001, attacks that set off a massive manhunt. Pakistani authorities are not allowing the CIA access to them, the Foreign Ministry said.
Today, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is due to brief parliament on the raid, which was carried out by two dozen US Navy SEALs who helicoptered across the border from Afghanistan undetected and rappelled into bin Laden's lair.
Among bin Laden's relatives taken into custody was his Yemeni-born wife Amal Ahmed Abdullfattah. She has told Pakistani investigators that she moved to the home in 2006 and never left the compound.
She is from the southern Yemeni province of Ibb, about 193 kilometers south of the capital, Sanaa.
A family member there has sought a meeting with Pakistan's ambassador to Yemen to ask about her fate and whether she is to return to Yemen. The relative, a cousin named Walid al-Sada, said the ambassador did not know and promised to get back to the family.
Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tahmina Janjua said no countries have asked for the return of bin Laden's relatives. Pakistani officials, who have not disclosed where the relatives are being held, have said that they will be returned to their countries of origin.
Bin Laden led a life on the run, yet kept his family close.
One of his sons, Khalid, was killed during the raid. Abdullfattah, his youngest wife, was shot in the leg. One of his daughters watched her father being slain.
Pakistan gained custody of bin Laden's family members after the covert United States operation on May 2 that killed the al-Qaida chief and four others at his hide-out in the northwestern city of Abbottabad.
Their questioning could provide more information on the military operation and help reveal how bin Laden was able to avoid capture for nearly 10 years after the September 11, 2001, attacks that set off a massive manhunt. Pakistani authorities are not allowing the CIA access to them, the Foreign Ministry said.
Today, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is due to brief parliament on the raid, which was carried out by two dozen US Navy SEALs who helicoptered across the border from Afghanistan undetected and rappelled into bin Laden's lair.
Among bin Laden's relatives taken into custody was his Yemeni-born wife Amal Ahmed Abdullfattah. She has told Pakistani investigators that she moved to the home in 2006 and never left the compound.
She is from the southern Yemeni province of Ibb, about 193 kilometers south of the capital, Sanaa.
A family member there has sought a meeting with Pakistan's ambassador to Yemen to ask about her fate and whether she is to return to Yemen. The relative, a cousin named Walid al-Sada, said the ambassador did not know and promised to get back to the family.
Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tahmina Janjua said no countries have asked for the return of bin Laden's relatives. Pakistani officials, who have not disclosed where the relatives are being held, have said that they will be returned to their countries of origin.
Bin Laden led a life on the run, yet kept his family close.
One of his sons, Khalid, was killed during the raid. Abdullfattah, his youngest wife, was shot in the leg. One of his daughters watched her father being slain.
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