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Bin Laden told his children to live in peace in the West

He did not want them to follow jihad — report

  • AFP
  • Published: 00:00 February 13, 2012
  • Gulf News

  • Image Credit: AP
  • Osama Bin Laden was killed in a commando raid in May 2011 by US Navy SEALs at a house in Abbottabad, northwest Pakistan.

London:  Slain Al Qaida chief Osama Bin Laden urged his younger children to go live peacefully in the West and get a university education, his brother-in-law said in an interview published on Sunday.

Zakaria Al Sadah, the brother of Bin Laden's Yemeni fifth wife Amal, told Britain's Sunday Times newspaper that the militant believed his children "should not follow him down the road to jihad".

"He told his own children and grandchildren, ‘Go to Europe and America and get a good education,'" Al Sadah told the Sunday Times.

Al Sadah said Bin Laden told them: "You have to study, live in peace and don't do what I am doing or what I have done."

Bin Laden was killed in a commando raid in May 2011 by US Navy SEALs at a house in Abbottabad, northwest Pakistan.

Al Sadah said that in November he had seen his sister for the first time since she was shot in the knee during the raid and had since been allowed to have a number of meetings with her in the presence of guards.

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He said the three wives and nine children who were in the compound — some are Bin Laden's children and others are his grandchildren — have been held for months in a three-room flat in Islamabad. They are guarded by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency, he said.

The Sunday Times published what it said was the first photograph to show some of the young children from the compound: two sons and a daughter, and two grandsons and a granddaughter. The children were still traumatised after seeing the raid in which Bin Laden died, Al Sadah said.

"These children have seen their father killed and they need a caring environment, not a prison — whatever you think of their father and what he has done," he said.

Comments (18)

  1. Added 18:52 February 13, 2012

    Dear all, if osama want his children study & live in West then why he took them with him to Afghanistan? i think this all US politics. they want his children shouldn't take his place in Al Qaida also they want to convience Al Qaida/Taliban thru this. the Western media always play a big role against their enemy.

    Anonymous, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

  2. Added 17:35 February 13, 2012

    Al Qaeda's new propaganda to put in their emissary to the West's territory and perform another bombings in the future... Who in the world is going to bite that bait?

    Anonymous, Toronto, Canada

  3. Added 16:47 February 13, 2012

    First of all i dont belive his statement that Osama told to huis children...Second of all we all sure about he will never ask his children to study from the Est...Cause everyone knows about Osama's Past and with common sense we can think that if west people come to know that Osama's children studying in west, what woul;d be the consequences...Will west people forgive to Osama and accept his children to study there>>>>i dont think and his children never gonna get peace...So please Stop PLayin this kind of thingsssss against his children

    Anonymous, abudhabi, United Arab Emirates

  4. Added 15:27 February 13, 2012

    Still they need help from America & Europe. "He told his own children and grandchildren, ‘Go to Europe and America and get a good education,'" One side those people hate America and Europe and other side they needs their support.

    Anonymous, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  5. Added 15:04 February 13, 2012

    One small sacrifice for saving millions of lives. So many died in Afghanistan and Iraq in something that could have been avoided if Bin Laden would have just turned himself in...innocent or not.

    Anonymous, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

  6. Added 14:41 February 13, 2012

    Good! At least, BIN LAden had realized the value of PEACE! I wish this will be realized by war freak people and STOP whatever evil that comes in their minds! THINK HUMANITY and GOD above all ! We are all Brothers ! If they hate America, Why tell his family to stay and live there ?!

    Anonymous, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  7. Added 14:03 February 13, 2012

    Americans and there dramas.

    Hasnain, London, United Kingdom

  8. Added 13:29 February 13, 2012

    What I understood that Bin Laden rectified his mistakes which killed millions. But he was in a stage where he cannot go back, & of-course all parents want their children to live safely & get good education.

    Anonymous, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  9. Added 13:11 February 13, 2012

    Who knows whether his brother in law is telling the truth, i cant believe this.

    Shajahan Subhan, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  10. Added 12:55 February 13, 2012

    I never agreed with what bin laden did in his life or may I say completely agree with him. I wouldn't advise anyone to insult or indirectly make fun of him. After all, right or wrong, he was brave to do what others couldn't. If he advised his children to go to the west, it could mean ANYTHING. You can't judge he loved the west. As a matter of fact, there isn't a single shred of proof that he actually admitted the attacks behind september 11th. As far as you know, he might have advised his children to stay away from this, because he got stuck in a dirty political game where his true intentions are being corrupt by those around him. If those who lay questions to doubt his motives I lay my own by asking... wasn't he one of the first who truly wanted to protect the dignity of Muslims all around the world? look at us, we are all pawns to the west in every Arab and Islamic country. Kids, don't respect their parents anymore. Family values has for some reason disappeared. I can point out a thousand things he was fighting for. What went wrong. God only knows the hidden truths.

    Anonymous, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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