Even after the completion of their imprisonment period of 45 days, the family members of al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden including his three widows and eight children could not be repatriated to the respective countries – Saudi Arabia and Yemen – due to a delay in the completion of their travel documents.
The lawyers for Bin Laden’s family on Wednesday said the passports of the widows and children were not ready due to which their repatriation had been delayed.
On April 2, a civil court of Shahrukh Arjumand indicted the adult members of bin Laden’s family to a 45-day imprisonment along with fine of Rs 10,000 each and the period of their imprisonment had ended on April 17.
“Bin Laden’s family was expected to be repatriated on Tuesday night but delay in completion of their travel documents resulted in the delay of their departure,” new lawyer for Osama’s family, Atif Ali Khan told reporters. Zakarya Ahmad Abd al-Fattah, brother of Osama’s Yemani wife, who has been campaigning for their release, fired the previous lawyer, Mohammad Amir Khalil, for making unauthorized statements to the media.
The adult family members who were handed over sentence included three widows namely Amal Ahmad Abdul Fatheh, Silham Sharif, and Kharia Hussain Sabir, and two daughters, Maryam and Sumiya.
The court at time of its decision also directed the government to arrange necessary documents for the earliest repatriation of the Osama’s family members, so that they can go to their own country’s —Saudi Arabia and Yemen – after completing their imprisonment.
Some media reports claims that the government has yet to provide names of Osama’s family to the embassies concerned so that they can proceed further in this regard. However, on the other hand Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that the government has written letters to the concerned embassies but they have got no response from the embassies so far due to which the family of Osama could not be deported.
The lawyer for the Osama’s family said the travel documentation was underway and it would be completed soon. He said the Saudi and Yemeni embassies were in contact with the Foreign Ministry in this regard, and a final decision about the place of departure of the widows and children would be taken after getting NOC from the competent authority for their repatriation.