Bin Laden family condemns terror attacks

The family of Osama bin Laden has strongly condemned last Tuesday's terror attacks in New York and Washington.

"The bin Laden family is deeply sorry for the plight of innocent people who died or were injured in the terrorist attacks. There is no religion which tolerates such incidents. The killings and terror do not support our issues but rather create hatred against Arabs and Muslims," the head of the well-known business family in Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdullah Awadh Abboud bin Laden, said in a statement released to newspapers on Friday.

On whether he has any information about Osama bin Laden and his role in the attacks, Sheikh Abdullah said the Bin Laden family has had no information about Osama for more than eight years.

"All members of the bin Laden family denounce violence and terror attacks, even if Osama was behind these acts."

He declined to answer any more questions, saying: "We hope that nobody will involve the (bin Laden) family in any acts attributed to Osama bin Laden."

Meanwhile, there are widely spread reports in Saudi Arabia, especially Jeddah, that a disguised Osama bin Laden, holding a fake passport, had left Afghanistan for a CIS republic before Tuesday's attacks.

Although these reports were not confirmed by his family, a person working for bin Laden's brother said over the phone that bin Laden is not a fool to stay in Afghanistan even if he has nothing to do with the attacks.

The worker, a Sudanese who asked not to be named, added that bin Laden had most probably left Afghanistan for an unidentified country. "Even if Bin Laden is still in Afghanistan, he would have escaped to a safe place which nobody can reach. He (bin Laden) knows how to cope very intelligently."

He noted that the brothers of bin Laden maintain no relations with Osama and confirmed that all the family members had denounced his acts a long time ago.