JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia has allowed the three widows and children of slain Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden entrance into the kingdom on humanitarian grounds, a Saudi-owned daily reported on Saturday.
Citing a senior Saudi official, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat said the kingdom "dealt with bin Laden's wives on humanitarian grounds," adding that authorities were confident that they and the children "were not involved in" the operations of the extremist group.
The widows -- two Saudis and a Yemeni -- arrived on Friday with their 10 children, after being expelled from Pakistan, Mohammed Naji Allaw, head of the Yemeni non-governmental group Hood, told AFP.
Saudi Arabia has kept totally silent on the issue and so far has not officially confirmed their arrival.
Yemen's ambassador to Islamabad, Abdo Abdulrahman, however told the newspaper "bin Laden's family arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday morning ... on a private plane provided by the bin Laden family."
He said Amal al-Sadaa, the Yemeni wife who fathered five of bin Laden's children and is said to have been his favourite, left Pakistan on Yemeni travel documents and "could return to Yemen" after a brief visit with her husband's extended family.
The senior Saudi official told the daily Saada was granted "a visitor's visa to pass through Saudi Arabia."
Allaw told AFP on Friday that preparations for Sadaa's return to Yemen were already underway.
Hood, which deals with human rights cases in Yemen, especially those concerning children, has been tasked by the widow's brother, Zakaria Abdulfattah al-Sadaa, with looking after her case.
Last week, family lawyer Atif Ali Khan said Sadaa and her children might be sent to Yemen after Saudi Arabia.
While Al Qaeda and its offshoots remain a threat, he said, the military and intelligence communities have learned to work better together since Sept. 11, 2001. Still, he acknowledged, there is no single, completely effective way to destroy the terror network.
"The way this works is that the more successful we are at taking down those who represent their spiritual, ideological leadership, the greater our ability to weaken their threat to this country," he said.
The story of the raid is well-known: The SEALs and special operations forces that flew deep into Pakistan; the wrenching moment when one of the helicopters went down in the heat, landing hard with its tail on the wall; the SEALs' assault on the house where they believed bin Laden and his wives had been living for several years; and what Panetta on Friday called the "fingernail-biting moments."
"We knew that there were gunshots and firing, but after that we just didn't know," said Panetta, describing the nearly 20 minutes of silence after the SEALs went into the house.
Then came confusion. McRaven, commander of the operation, told him that he thought he'd picked up the word "Geronimo."
"The way he said it was like, you know, `We think,"' said Panetta. "It wasn't ideal. We were still waiting."
A few minutes later came the KIA message. Then came the long flight out of Pakistan.
"By that time they had blown the helicopter that was down and we knew we had woken up all of Pakistan to the fact that something had happened," Panetta said with a laugh. "The concern was just exactly what were they thinking and how were they going to respond."
The moment they crossed the border, he said, was "the moment when we finally knew the mission had been accomplished."
Then they could embrace the victory.
The raid created a deep fissure into the already rocky U.S.-Pakistan relations. U.S. officials, including members of Congress, were irate that the Al Qaeda leader had been able to hide -- virtually in plain sight -- in a Pakistani military town. Some suggested there was at least some knowledge of his hiding place.
Pakistani leaders, meanwhile, were outraged that the U.S. had launched a military mission deep within the country's borders without alerting them, violating their sovereignty. Islamabad's military commanders were embarrassed that the U.S. was able to carry out the raid without being detected.
The bin Laden saga has continued in Pakistan. His three wives and their families were deported early Friday to Saudi Arabia. Officials have said that the wives and as many as eight children and some grandchildren were living in the compound when it was raided.
The anniversary has triggered security warnings for Americans in Pakistan. The U.S. Embassy said its employees would be restricted from restaurants and markets in Islamabad for the next two weeks. While there was no mention of bin Laden, the period includes the anniversary date.
Citing a senior Saudi official, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat said the kingdom "dealt with bin Laden's wives on humanitarian grounds," adding that authorities were confident that they and the children "were not involved in" the operations of the extremist group.
The widows -- two Saudis and a Yemeni -- arrived on Friday with their 10 children, after being expelled from Pakistan, Mohammed Naji Allaw, head of the Yemeni non-governmental group Hood, told AFP.
Saudi Arabia has kept totally silent on the issue and so far has not officially confirmed their arrival.
The senior Saudi official told the daily Saada was granted "a visitor's visa to pass through Saudi Arabia."
Allaw told AFP on Friday that preparations for Sadaa's return to Yemen were already underway.
Hood, which deals with human rights cases in Yemen, especially those concerning children, has been tasked by the widow's brother, Zakaria Abdulfattah al-Sadaa, with looking after her case.
Last week, family lawyer Atif Ali Khan said Sadaa and her children might be sent to Yemen after Saudi Arabia.
While Al Qaeda and its offshoots remain a threat, he said, the military and intelligence communities have learned to work better together since Sept. 11, 2001. Still, he acknowledged, there is no single, completely effective way to destroy the terror network.
"The way this works is that the more successful we are at taking down those who represent their spiritual, ideological leadership, the greater our ability to weaken their threat to this country," he said.
The story of the raid is well-known: The SEALs and special operations forces that flew deep into Pakistan; the wrenching moment when one of the helicopters went down in the heat, landing hard with its tail on the wall; the SEALs' assault on the house where they believed bin Laden and his wives had been living for several years; and what Panetta on Friday called the "fingernail-biting moments."
"We knew that there were gunshots and firing, but after that we just didn't know," said Panetta, describing the nearly 20 minutes of silence after the SEALs went into the house.
Then came confusion. McRaven, commander of the operation, told him that he thought he'd picked up the word "Geronimo."
"The way he said it was like, you know, `We think,"' said Panetta. "It wasn't ideal. We were still waiting."
A few minutes later came the KIA message. Then came the long flight out of Pakistan.
"By that time they had blown the helicopter that was down and we knew we had woken up all of Pakistan to the fact that something had happened," Panetta said with a laugh. "The concern was just exactly what were they thinking and how were they going to respond."
Then they could embrace the victory.
The raid created a deep fissure into the already rocky U.S.-Pakistan relations. U.S. officials, including members of Congress, were irate that the Al Qaeda leader had been able to hide -- virtually in plain sight -- in a Pakistani military town. Some suggested there was at least some knowledge of his hiding place.
Pakistani leaders, meanwhile, were outraged that the U.S. had launched a military mission deep within the country's borders without alerting them, violating their sovereignty. Islamabad's military commanders were embarrassed that the U.S. was able to carry out the raid without being detected.
The bin Laden saga has continued in Pakistan. His three wives and their families were deported early Friday to Saudi Arabia. Officials have said that the wives and as many as eight children and some grandchildren were living in the compound when it was raided.
The anniversary has triggered security warnings for Americans in Pakistan. The U.S. Embassy said its employees would be restricted from restaurants and markets in Islamabad for the next two weeks. While there was no mention of bin Laden, the period includes the anniversary date.
No comments:
Post a Comment