http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=19259
Bin Laden's Family Under House Arrest in Iran
Asharq Al-Awsat Exclusive
23/12/2009
By Mohammed Al Shafey
Saad Bin Laden, Osama's bin Laden's son who is currently under hours
arrest in Iran. (Asharq Al-Awsat Photo).
London, Asharq Al-Awsat- Iman Bin Laden, the daughter of Al-Qaeda leader Osama
Bin Laden, has sought refuge in the Saudi Embassy in Iran after succeeding in
escaping Iranian guards watching over her. Iman disclosed in a telephone call
to her brother Abdullah who lives in Syria that she and five of her brothers
and sisters have been detained by the Iranian authorities since the US invasion
of Afghanistan at the end of 2001.
The 29 year old Omar Bin Laden told Asharq Al-Awsat that his sister Iman, five
of his brothers and sisters, and his stepmother (Umm-Hamzah) are currently held
by the Iranian authorities and appealed to the government in Tehran to release
them. Omar, who lives in Qatar, said in a telephone call and an email received
by Asharq Al-Awsat" that the Bin Laden family of his first wife Najwa, a Syrian
living in Damascus, did not know that her daughter Iman and her other brothers
and sisters had been alive all these past years until she contacted her family
one month ago. He added that it is the first time since the 9/11 attacks that
the whereabouts of his brothers and sisters, the children of Bin Laden, can be
definitely ascertained: There are five in Saudi Arabia and three in Syria. He
pointed out "we did not know even before four weeks the whereabouts of these
brothers and sisters who are Saad who is now 30 years old, Othman who is 25,
Fatima who is 22, Hamzah who is 20, Iman who is 17, and Bakr who is 15."
According to Omar, Osama's fourth son who is younger than Abdullah who lives in
Saudi Arabia, Abdul-Rahman who lives in Syria with his mother Najwa, and Saad
who is detained in Tehran with his other brothers and sisters, Iman contacted
her brother Abdullah who asked her to seek refuge in the Saudi Embassy
immediately, adding that contacts have been going on since that time to allow
her to leave Iran but to no avail. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that his sister
"Iman has been living inside the Saudi Embassy for 25 days in a room provided
for her by the officials there who welcomed her. We are working to complete the
paperwork for allowing her to travel to Saudi Arabia or Syria. It must be said
that Syria was generous with my mother and my brother. Two of my brothers are
living there."
Fuad Qassas, the Saudi charge d'affaires in Tehran, confirmed to Asharq
Al-Awsat that Iman has been in the Saudi Embassy for over 25 days and talked
about the "embassy's diplomatic efforts to send her in dignity to her family
and relatives." On welcoming her, he said: "This is our duty. She is primarily
a Saudi citizen and we offer this duty to any Saudi citizen who comes asking
for help."
Omar Bin Laden sent Asharq Al-Awsat photos of his detained brothers and sisters
who are held in Tehran and said they have not received any education since
their detention in 2001 and want to return to their family in Saudi Arabia or
Syria, adding that his sister Iman fled from the guards accompanying her and
her stepmother (Umm-Hamzah) Mrs. Khayriyah during a shopping trip. She said the
Iranian authorities allowed them out on a shopping trip once every six months.
Bin Laden's son went on to say: "Despite reports that Saad was killed a year
and a half ago in the tribal strip in an American missile attack by a drone and
that he was involved in terrorist operations, I can confirm the opposite of
this." He explained that his mother (Najwa) left her children before the 9/11
attacks when she decided to leave Afghanistan but she is deeply regretting this
and crying over the fate of her children she had left behind. He added that he
was concerned about his sister's health and mental condition after the failure
of all the attempts to let her leave the embassy. He talked about the
intervention of Saudi officials to solve the crisis but said their attempts
have so far failed because of the tension in the countries' relations.
He pointed out in his telephone interview with Asharq al-Awsat yesterday that
it was mere coincidence that made him know the fate of his five brothers and
sisters. A young Iranian man let his brother Othman use his cell phone a month
ago to contact and tell him that all of them were alive. He said Othman was 17
years old at the time of 9/11 attacks but was able to escort his wife and baby
son, his brother Saad and his wife and baby son, and the other brothers and
several members of the Arab families to the Iranian borders where they were put
up in a residential compound under heavy guard in the capital Tehran. The
families were at first separated with the males in a residential annex and the
females in a separate remote one. To protect them, they were not allowed to
leave the compound at all but were allowed to mix after some time and provided
with television sets. The Iranian Government was generous in caring for them
and providing them with everything they needed but the Iranian authorities
probably did not know what to do with this large group of Arab families who are
not wanted by any side. Bin Laden's son reiterated his thanks to the Iranian
Government for what it has provided for his brothers and sisters "but now and
after eight and a half year, the changes in the situations, and since there are
several places where they wish to move so as to be with their families and
mothers, we want to reunite the family and need to rally together the efforts
by several parties so as to fulfill this dream." He added: "I appeal to the
Syrian Government to intervene due to its good relationship with Iran,
particularly as my brothers and sisters are innocent and had nothing to do with
the others' disputes with our father." He said: "We lived in Afghanistan
because it was normal for children to live where their parents lived."
He went to point out that "we wrote to Amnesty International to act for my
brothers and sisters, wrote to the United Nations, and corresponded with the
Madrid club of 70 heads of state as to intervene for their release. All my
brothers and sisters detained in Iran were born in Saudi Arabia. I have today
11 nephews and nieces who were born in Afghanistan or Iran but I have not seen
them."
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