Osama bin Laden's family deported

Last Updated: Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:08:00 +1000

Osama bin Laden's family has been deported from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia, nearly a year after the Al-Qaeda leader was killed in a US raid.

His three widows and their children were detained by Pakistan after bi Laden was killed on May 2 last year, in a secret US operation in Abbottabad.

After 10 months in detention, the widows and two of bin Laden's older daughters were sentenced by a Pakistani court to 45 days' detention on charges of illegal entry and residency in the country and ordered to be deportation.

On Thursday night, a minibus collected the family from the Islamabad house where they had served the sentence.

The family were believed to number 12 - three widows, eight children and one grandchild. An interior ministry spokesman said orders were passed for the deportation of 14 bin Laden relatives.

They were taken to Islamabad airport to board a special flight to Saudi Arabia.

The family were originally supposed to be deported after completing their sentence, but a 10 day delay led to speculation the Saudis were reluctant to accept such a notorious group.

Bin Laden's discovery in Abbottabad dealt a huge blow to US-Pakistan relations and led to accusations of Pakistani complicity or incompetence.

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