Bin Laden's family deported from Pakistan

Islamabad, April 27: The family of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, killed almost a year ago by American special forces in a military town in northwest Pakistan, left Pakistan for Saudi Arabia early on Friday morning, the family lawyer told Reuters.

The move ends months of speculation about the fate of the three widows and 11 children, who were detained by Pakistani security forces after the May 2 raid.

“Yes, they're being deported to Saudi Arabia,” said Aamir Khalil, the family lawyer. “It is a special flight.”

The jet took off at around 1:30 a.m. (2030 GMT) for Saudi Arabia, according to local TV channels. Its destination in the kingdom was not known.

At the house in Islamabad where the family were being held, a white minivan pulled up to take them to the airport. The women refused to enter the van with a crush of media around it, so officials covered its windows with plastic sheets.

The Ministry of the Interior, which was responsible for the family, issued a statement saying it had “passed orders for the deportation of 14 members of OBL family in pursuance of the Court orders.”

“The family was kept safe and sound in a guest house ... They have been deported to the country of their choice, Saudi Arabia, today,” it added.

Earlier this month, a court sentenced the women to 45 days in prison for entering Pakistan illegally. It ordered their deportation after the end of the prison term, which began on March 3 when they were formally arrested.

Once outside Pakistan, the family could reveal details about how the world's most wanted man was able to hide in Pakistan for years, possibly assisted by elements of its powerful military and spy agency.

Any revelations about ties to Bin Laden could embarrass Pakistan and anger Washington, which had been hunting Bin Laden since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Pakistani officials describe Bin Laden's long presence in the hill-town of Abbottabad as a security lapse and reject suggestions that members of the military and intelligence service were complicit in hiding him there.

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In meeting with Zohran Mamdani, Trump repeats claim he stopped India-Pak war

Agencies

November 22,2025

New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has again claimed to have solved the conflict between India and Pakistan, repeating his assertion during a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office.

Mamdani flew to Washington DC for his first meeting with Trump in the White House on Friday. Trump said he “enjoyed” the meeting, which he described as “great.”

During remarks in the Oval Office, with Mamdani standing next to him, Trump repeated his claim that he solved the May conflict between India and Pakistan.

"I did eight peace deals of countries, including India and Pakistan,” he said.

On Wednesday, Trump had said he threatened to put 350 per cent tariffs on India and Pakistan if they did not end their conflict, repeating his claim that he solved the fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him to say “we're not going to go to war.”

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Mamdani emerged victorious in the closely-watched battle for New York City Mayor, becoming the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the largest city in the US.

He had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months and defeated Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and political heavyweight former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate and was officially endorsed by Trump just hours before the elections.

Indian-descent Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen only recently, in 2018.

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