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Bin Laden family expelled

April 27, 2012

The widows and children of Osama bin Laden leader have arrived in Saudi Arabia following their deportation from Pakistan. This comes ahead of the anniversary of bin Laden's killing by US troops in Pakistan.

https://p.dw.com/p/14lgG
Media chase a minivan carrying the family of Osama bin Laden, in Islamabad, Pakistan on Thursday, April 26, 2012. A minivan carrying the three widows and children of Bin Laden has left the house where they have been staying in Islamabad and is en route to the airport, from where they will be deported to Saudi Arabia, officials and witness said. (Foto:B.K. Bangash/AP/dapd) // eingestellt von pg
Image: dapd

Pakistani officials reported that Osama bin Laden's family was expelled from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia early Friday. The family was reportedly collected by a minibus around midnight and boarded a special flight to Saudi Arabia from Islamabad airport.

They were held for ten months and then sentenced by a Pakistani court to 45 days' detention on charges of illegal entry and residency in the country and ordered to leave the country.

Bin Laden's three widows and their children were detained by Pakistan after the al-Qaeda leader was killed by US troops on May 2 last year in Abbotabad, a city north-east of the capital Islamabad.

The family members' sentence ended Tuesday, but their departure was delayed reportedly due to administrative problems.

The al-Qaeda leader is believed to have fled Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and to have settled in a walled compound in the Pakistani garrison town in 2005. His discovery there led to US accusations of Pakistani complicity.

Pakistani authorities have already demolished the Abbottabad house.

There is increased security amid concerns of attacks to mark the one-year anniversary of bin Laden's death.

rg/mz (dpa, AFP, Reuters)