Osama bin Laden Urged His Children to Seek Western Education, Forsake Jihad: Report

Osama bin Laden told his children to seek a western education and not to follow him in jihad, according to his brother-in-law.

Zakaria al-Sadah told The Sunday Times newspaper of Britain: “[Osama] told his own children and grandchildren, go to Europe and America and get a good education. [He also told them] ‘You have to study, live in peace and don’t do what I am doing or what I have done.’”

Al-Sadah is the brother of bin Laden's Yemeni fifth wife Amal.

Osama, the mastermind behind the 9-11 attacks in the United States, was finally shot down by US commandoes in a daring raid on a compound near Islamabad, Pakistan last May.

Al-Sadah also said that he saw his sister in November 2011, the first time since the raid that killed Osama. He claimed he was allowed to speak to her in the presence of Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) guards.

Apparently, three of Osama’s wives and nine of his children are holed up in a small flat in Islamabad. Their legal status is unclear, despite the fact that they are believed to be citizens of Yemen.

Al-Sadah that Osama’s children remain traumatized by his killing.

These children have seen their father killed and they need a caring environment, not a prison -- whatever you think of their father and what he has done, he told the paper.

Al-Sadah further noted that while Pakistan allowed him to travel to the country to meet with his relatives, they refused his request to take them to Yemen.

According to Dawn, the Pakistani English language newspaper, Al-Sadah has gone to the highest echelons of Pakistan’s government to seek his sister’s release, all in vain.

Reportedly, Yemen’s Ambassador to Pakistan Abdu Ali Abdul Rahman also failed to secure Amal and her children’s release after meeting with Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik in December.

Dawn also stated that sixteen members of Osama’s extended family have “disappeared.”