Osama bin Laden’s son Omar said on Saturday that al-Qaeda’s North Africa branch should keep out of his family’s affairs, after it accused Iran of mistreating his siblings stranded in Tehran.
The al-Qaeda chief’s fourth son also confirmed that his sister Iman bin Laden, along with their mother Najwa al-Ghanem, had been allowed to leave Iran on Thursday after months of trying and that they were now in Damascus.
“We confirm that Iman left Iran with her mother three days ago,” Omar said by telephone from Britain.
On Friday, the Saudi-financed daily Asharq Al-Awsat said Iman, who took refuge in the Saudi embassy in Tehran in November after evading her Iranian minders, and Ghanem, who is of Syrian origin, had been allowed to leave Iran.
Omar bin Laden criticized charges by both his half-brother Khalid and from the North African branch of al-Qaeda that Iran had mistreated bin Laden family members living in Tehran under house arrest since fleeing Afghanistan in 2001.
“From Omar bin Laden to the leader of the al-Qaeda team in Morocco: Violence only breeds more violence,” he said.
“I, as the son of your leader, I am telling you that this case is mine alone. I am in charge of it, I have full responsibility over all my brothers and sisters, wherever they may be. I don’t accept or agree with this kind of threat, he said.”
On Friday, the SITE Intelligence Group monitoring service reported that al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb had warned the Iranian government to free bin Laden’s family members.
“They should know we are people of dignity, glory and honor, and we are ready to sacrifice ourselves and all that we own for Sheikh Osama and his family and for every Muslim man and woman,” it said.
That followed the release of a letter from Khalid bin Laden to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, which accused the Islamic republic of harming family members.
“They requested a number of times to leave Iran, only to be beaten and silenced,” Khalid wrote.
Omar, 29, who has condemned his father’s jihadist ideology, denied those charges.
“I know 100 percent that my brothers and sisters have been well treated. They have told me from their own mouths,” he said.
“The Iranian government made me a promise, they kept to their promise” to allow his youngest sister to leave, he said.
He said that at least 16 other family members in Iran had not left because they had not found a country to take them in.
“The Iranians have been very caring and kind to my family. If anyone asks why they are still in Iran, it is because we have not been able to find them any country to accept them,” he said.
Omar’s British wife Zaina said the Saudi government had been helpful in securing Iman’s exit, but that family members were not expected to go to Saudi Arabia, Osama bin Laden’s home country.
His estranged homeland has stripped the al-Qaeda chief of Saudi nationality.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of