Saudi Arabia asks Iran to free Osama’s daughter
By IANSSunday, January 3, 2010
LONDON - Saudi Arabia has asked Iran to repatriate one of the daughters of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden to the kingdom after she fled house arrest and sought refuge at its embassy in Tehran.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said Saturday his government was in talks with Iran over freeing the fugitive leader’s 17-year-old daughter Iman, the BBC reported.
Iman went to the embassy after eluding guards in Iran who have held her and five of her siblings under house arrest since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the BBC quoted Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat as saying.
The newspaper had also quoted Zaina Bin Laden, wife of bin Laden’s fourth son Omar, as saying that the dreaded terrorist’s children and his wife Khayriyah were living in a residential compound on the outskirts of Tehran.
Speaking in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Prince Faisal said his country considered the matter to be a “humanitarian issue”.
“We are negotiating with the Iranian government on this basis,” he added.
Osama Bin Laden, accused of 9/11 and other attacks, was born into a wealthy Saudi family but was expelled from the country in 1991 because of his anti-government activities.
–Indo Asian News Service
