The widows
and children of Osama bin Laden leader have arrived in Saudi Arabia following
their extradition from Pakistan. This comes ahead of the anniversary of bin
Laden's killing by US troops in Pakistan.
Pakistani
officials reported that Osama bin Laden's family was deported 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 be deported.
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.
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