Bin Laden's Children Sheltered in Iran

[Solid Beast]

Bin Laden daughter 'in Saudi embassy in Iran'

BBC UK

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says he has been informed that Osama Bin Laden's daughter Iman is currently staying in Tehran.

Saudi Arabian diplomats told Mr Manoucher that the girl was at the Saudi Arabian embassy.

He said it was "unclear" how she got there, but she could leave if she obtained the right travel documents.

This week there have been several reports that a number of the al-Qaeda leader's children are in Iran.

Mr Mottaki said he could not personally confirm the identity of the daughter but the embassy had said it was her.

"A while back, the embassy of Saudi Arabia informed the foreign ministry via a note that one of Bin Laden's daughters is at the Saudi embassy.

"We do not know how she reached the Saudi embassy nor do we know how she entered the country," he said.

'House arrest'

This week, newspapers in Saudi Arabia and Britain reported that several of Bin Laden's children had been living in a compound in Iran since fleeing Afghanistan in 2001.

One son, Omar Bin Laden is said to have told the Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that his 17-year-old sister had gone to the embassy in Tehran.

He was also reported to have said that five other siblings and one of his father's wives were under house arrest in Tehran.

British newspaper The Times also reported that 11 of Bin Laden's grandchildren were in a high-security compound near Tehran.