US asks Pakistan for access to Osama’s family

The United States has asked Pakistan for access to the three wives and eight children of Osama bin Laden, currently detained by Pakistani authorities, to figure out the trail of the al Qaeda chief that ended in Abbottabad, where he was killed, and to also learn about other possible terrorist attacks.
The wives of bin Laden, including the Yemeni-born Amal Ahmed Abdulfattah, and children were left behind by the US Navy SEALs after they killed bin Laden, his son and three aides and boarded the waiting choppers with the corpse of the al Qaeda chief. The raiding party most likely left the women and children behind at the compound because of no space for them on the helicopters. Pakistani police and military personnel and the Inter-Services Intelligence had found the terrified family of bin Laden when they entered the compound after the US commandoes had left.
The Yemini wife of bin Laden shouted at them: “They have taken away Abu Hamza!” Abu Hamza was the household name of bin Laden, reflective of his fondness for his son Hamza bin Laden, who was earlier thought to have been killed by the US commandos. It was later revealed that the son who was killed in the raid was Khalid bin Laden. “The US has now asked Pakistan to grant access to the wives and children, especially Amal, who has been talking to the Pakistani investigators.
However, no decision has yet been made what to do with the American demand,” said a Pakistani official here on Sunday requesting anonymity. It was Amal who reportedly told Pakistani investigators that she had not been out of the house in Abbottabad for the last five years. She said that bin Laden had been living in Pakistan for longer than initially thought, and before moving to Abbottabad near the end of 2005, he had spent nearly two and a half years in Chak Shah Mohammad Khan, a village in the nearby district of Haripur.
The extradition of Amal and other members of bin Laden’s family to their native countries is another major issue that Pakistani authorities are now facing. “Pakistan wants to hand them (bin Laden’s family) to their respective countries of origin, but Yemen and Saudi Arabia are once again not showing any interest,” said a Foreign Office official here, who wished to remain unnamed.
Nonetheless, Foreign Office Spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua tried to dispel the notion that there was a dispute between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen over the fate of bin Laden’s family. She said government officials were still detaining the wives and children for questioning and that so far, no country had sought their extradition.