Osama bin Laden\'s wife and six children \'in Iran\'

DUBAI : Six of Osama bin Laden\'s children and one of his wives, missing since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, are under house arrest in Iran, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper said Wednesday, quoting a family member.

\"Until a month ago we did not know where the siblings were,\" Omar bin Laden, 29, the fourth son of the Al-Qaeda chief, told the Saudi-owned newspaper.

Omar bin Laden, who lives in Qatar, said he only learnt that family was in Tehran after receiving a call from his brother Uthman about a month ago. A young Iranian had lent his mobile phone to his brother to make the call.

Saad, 29, Uthman, 25, Fatima, 22, Hamza, 20, and Bakr, 15, along with Hamza\'s mother Khairiya are under house arrest in Tehran, Omar said.

Omar\'s brother Saad had reportedly been killed in a US drone strike a year and a half ago in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, a sixth sibling, Omar\'s sister Iman, 17, recently sought asylum at the Saudi embassy in Tehran.

\"Iman has lived for more than 25 days inside the Saudi embassy,\" Omar said.

Fuad Qassas, the Saudi charge d\'affairs at the kingdom\'s embassy in Tehran, confirmed that Iman was staying there, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.

Efforts to allow her to leave Iran have so far proved unsuccessful.

Omar said that five of his father\'s other children are currently in Saudi Arabia, while three, along with his mother Najwa, are in Syria.

Iran\'s foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast did not deny that six members of the bin Laden family were in Tehran, at a weekly press conference on Tuesday.
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