28 Apr 2012

bin Laden's women deported

5:38 am on 28 April 2012

The three widows and children of Osama bin Laden have been deported to Saudi Arabia from Pakistan.

They had been held custody since the death of the al-Qaeda leader nearly a year ago.

The party left in a minibus amid tight security, to board a special flight from Rawalpindi to the kingdom on Thursday.

The widows and two adult daughters of bin Laden were sentenced to prison for 45 days on 2 April for illegally entering Pakistan. They completed their sentences on 17 April because of time they had already spent in detention.

They were detained after bin Laden was killed by US forces on May 2 in Abbottabad, 61km from the capital Islamabad.