A possible Syrian role in the release of Bin Laden's children

Iranian and Syrian Sources have informed "The Majalla" that high profile Syrian leadership was the reason Tehran allowed "Eman", the daughter of Osama bin Laden, to leave Iran, to join her mother, "Najwa Ghanim" in Syria. This took place based on a settlement that ensures that the other members of the bin Laden family in Tehran will be allowed to leave and probably go to Saudi Arabia.

"The Majalla's" sources have further confirmed that, since the fall of Afghanistan's Taliban government in 2001, Iran has hosted more than a hundred members of al-Qaeda and their families, including twenty-five people from the members of the family of Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda. They were forced to stay in Iran. Some of them stayed at first in the hotel "Murmur", which is located downtown Tehran, the capital of Iran. After that they were moved to private homes supervised by the Ministry of Intelligence amid tight security.

Iran had handed over a number of senior al-Qaeda officials to Yemen, Kuwait, Libya and Saudi Arabia, in the context of security agreements and political deals made with these countries. Iran declined to disclose any details about the family of bin Laden, until now, when they were revealed by "Eman", the daughter of Osama.

A few days ago, Abd El-Rahman, the second son of Osama bin Laden, claimed that Tehran has been holding his 17-year-old sister, "Eman", and five of his brothers, along with the wife of his father, against their will since the invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001. He appealed to the Iranian government to release them.

Bin Laden's son, whose is residing in Syria, confirmed that his father’s first wife, who is a “Aalwy” Syrian residing in her country of birth, had been unaware that her daughter and her siblings were still alive during the past years, until she was able to contact her family last month.

 He also said that his sister, "Eman" was able to escape from her guards, who were accompanying her and Amo Hamza, her stepmother, during a shopping trip. Eman said that the Iranian authorities allowed them to make such a trip every six months.

According to Abd El-Rahman, Eman called her brother Abdullah, who asked her to resort to the Saudi embassy. Since then, negotiations are still under way in order to allow her to leave Iran, but to no avail.

Abd El-Rahman had settled in Syria a few months before the attacks of 11 September 2001. He was known for his complete avoidance of the media.

Ramin Mhmanbrst, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman was quick to deny such claims. But Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, stressed that Tehran became aware of bin Laden's daughter through the Saudi Embassy, which asked Tehran to allow her to leave. He said that the daughter of al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, appeared in the embassy of Saudi Arabia in Tehran, but they did not know how she had entered the country. Mottaki said in an interview with the Iranian television that his country did not have knowledge of the existence of Eman inside Iranian territory, except after the Saudi Embassy informed them of her existence. He said that once her identity has been confirmed by the Iranian authorities she will be allowed to leave Iran. "The Majalla" has learned that Tehran had requested a birth certificate to confirm that "Eman" is a Saudi Arabia national.

An Iranian security source has informed "The Majalla" that since the invasion of Afghanistan, Iran has been holding a number of al-Qaeda's third row leaders and their families against their will. But he pointed out that the Intelligence Ministry had been unable to find full details about their names and their true identities.

"The Majalla" has further learned from its sources that Iranian authorities have transferred them from hotel "Murmur", to a special compound and allowed them to go out every six months to shop. The daughter of Osama bin Laden was able to escape in one of these trips and resort to the Saudi Embassy.

He said that the investigations of the Iranian authorities revealed that six members of bin Laden, including his daughter "Eman" and eleven of his grandchildren were living in Iran. The authorities did not recognize their real names because they entered Iran from Afghanistan.

The source declared that after detecting the presence of "Eman", the authorities have ascertained the  presence of twenty-five of the bin Laden family in Iran: Mohamed, Saad, 29 years old, Osman, 25 years old, Fatima, 22 years old, Hamza, 25 years old, Eman 17 years old, and Baker 15 years old. They are all married and have all 11 children. There are also some relatives of his wives. Diplomatic arrangements brokered by Syria at a high level are being made to transfer his family of 25 people to Saudi Arabia or to other destinations.