Saudis refuse to accept Bin Laden family members

Riyadh wants Islamabad to re-route them through a third country.

ISLAMABAD:

Saudi authorities have refused to accept the widows and children of al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden directly from Pakistan. Unveiling the mystery behind the delay in the deportation of Bin Laden family members, top officials said that the Saudis want Islamabad to re-route them through a third country.

Pakistan announced the deportation of Bin Laden’s three widows on Wednesday following a court order two weeks ago directing they be sent to the countries of their origin. The move was delayed with much confusion regarding its cause.

Officials at the Interior Ministry told The Express Tribune on Thursday that Saudi officials here in Islamabad indicated their government cannot accept Osama Bin Laden’s family directly.

Officials familiar with the latest developments said the Saudi Embassy informed them they have yet to get formal directions from the Saudi Home Ministry to take al Qaeda head’s family members into their custody.

“Both the Interior Ministry and Saudi Arabia are still mulling over when to deport several of Osama Bin Laden’s family members back to their homeland,” Aamir Khalil, counsel for Bin Laden’s family told The Express Tribune.

A senior official of the National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) said the documentation required to deport them has not been completed yet. He also said that Pakistan wanted to further investigate the matter so the officials associated with the investigation process want to keep them in Pakistan for some time. NCMC officials had earlier reported that the family members “would most probably be deported by Thursday night.”

On Wednesday, Rehman Malik had told the media that the government was waiting for a reply from the concerned embassies regarding the handover of the three widows and two daughters.

Earlier this month Saudi deputy foreign minister Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah during his stay in Pakistan also conveyed his message about Bin Laden’s family to Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

Two of the wives are Saudi nationals and the third is from Yemen, while Bin Laden’s daughters were born in Pakistan. The order for detention of the family given by the Islamabad District Court ended on the night of April 17.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2012.