ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The deportation of Osama bin Laden’s family from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia is expected to take place “in a few days,” as discussions between the two countries over the transfer continue.
“It will take some more days to complete the deportation process,” Atif Ali Khan, a lawyer for bin Laden’s widows, told AFP on Friday. “We are still waiting for news from the authorities.”
“I don’t want to talk about weeks but we hope that it will be over in a few days,” he added.
The former al Qaeda leader’s family members — including his three widows, eight children and one grandchild — were due to be deported early Wednesday for illegally entering and residing in Pakistan.
The deportation was delayed because their passports were not ready, one of their lawyers, Muhammad Aamir, said this week.
Deputy interior minister Imtiaz Safdar Warraich said Tuesday that “the required documents are being prepared and it is being done swiftly. It is not just an issue of deportation, but also there is an issue of acceptance.”
The mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks was living with some of his family in a compound in Abbottabad, north of the Pakistan capital of Islamabad, when he was killed during a May 2011 raid by a team of US Navy SEALs.
His family was detained after the raid.
After deportation, the family will be flown to Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden’s youngest wife, Amal Abdulfattah, who is Yemeni, may be sent to Yemen afterwards with her five children.