DUBAI: Slain al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden’s detained relatives, including
his 29-year-old Yemeni widow, will be repatriated back to their home countries
after their initial interrogations are completed, a Pakistani diplomat has said.
Bin Laden’s Yemeni widow Amal Ahmed Abdul Fattah was with her husband in a
bedroom when US special forces stormed the house. She was shot in the leg while
attempting to defend her husband and is currently being detained in a hospital
in Pakistan. "They (bin Laden’s relatives) are in safe hands and when initial
questions are completed, they will be sent to their home countries," Pakistan’s
Deputy Ambassador to Yemen Diyar Khan was quoted as saying by the Yemen Times
newspaper.
Fattah is from a Yemeni family living in the Al-Sayyani district of Ibb
governorate, 193 km south the capital Sana’a. She was married to bin Laden in
2000 at the age of 18. She was the fifth and youngest wife of bin Laden. The US
has also asked Pakistan to provide it access to all non combatants, including
bin Laden’s three wives, detained by the Pakistani authorities. "We need to work
with them (Pakistan) on assessing all the evidence out of that compound and all
of the evidence associated with Osama bin Laden’s presence there for six years.
They have in their custody all the noncombatants from the compound, including
three wives of Osama bin Laden. We’ve asked for access to those folks," White
House National Security Advisor Tom Donilon has said. Online
