Son claims Osama's family 'stranded' in Iran

London, July 19 (ANI): Omar bin Laden, the son of Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, has claimed that some members of the family are "stranded" in Iran and under house arrest since 2001.He has called on Tehran to release them.

The Telegraph quoted him, as saying: "I think the time has come for my family members to leave Iran but their lack of identification papers and passports made us in need of another third-party country willing to receive them after Iran refused to hand them over to Saudi Arabia."

Omar is the fourth son of the Saudi-born head of the al-Qaeda global terror network. e said he hoped Qatar would intervene on behalf of his siblings, who fled to Iran during the 2001 US bombing of Afghanistan and have since lived there under house arrest.

"We have been dealing with the Qatari government. They have been very helpful and working very much on it. They have given a lot of help to other countries in the world, and we hope they can help us," he said.

Several of Osama bin Laden's children with his first wife, Najwa, fled to Iran in 2001, including Othman, aged about 27, Fatima, about 22. Bin Laden's third wife, Khairiyah, and their son, Hamza, are also believed to be in Iran.

Omar bin Laden's sister Iman, about 17, was released three months ago after she took refuge at the Saudi embassy in Tehran and is now in Syria, he said.

The others live in a Tehran compound and cannot leave or make telephone calls without permission, he said. (ANI)