Growing Up Bin Laden - Jean P. Sasson [178]
KHADIJAH SHARIF, MARRIED IN 1983
Nine years older than her ex-husband, Osama, Khadijah is from a family descended from the Prophet. A highly educated woman, she had worked as a teacher before marrying Osama bin Laden. After giving birth to three children, and while living in Sudan, she divorced her husband and returned to live in Saudi Arabia where she still lives. Her eldest son, Ali, is in prison in Saudi Arabia, having been sentenced to fifteen years for allegedly possessing an illegal weapon.
KHAIRIAH SABAR, MARRIED IN 1985
Khairiah’s family is also descended from the Prophet. Educated to teach deaf-mute children, Khairiah became Osama’s third wife after Najwa arranged the marriage. The mother of one son, Hamza, Khairiah remained in Afghanistan with her husband after the events of September 11, 2001. No one knows if Khairiah and her son survived the American bomb attacks in October and November of 2001.
SIHAM SABAR, MARRIED IN 1987
Siham’s family is also descended from the Prophet. She is Osama’s fourth wife and the mother of four children. She remained in Afghanistan with her husband and children after the events of September 11, 2001. No one knows if Siham and her four children survived the U.S. retaliatory strikes that followed.
FIFTH MARRIAGE (ANNULLED)
Osama’s fifth marriage was held in Khartoum, Sudan, shortly after his second wife divorced him and returned to Saudi Arabia. However, according to Najwa bin Laden, this fifth marriage remained unconsummated and was annulled within forty-eight hours.
AMAL AL-SADAH, MARRIED IN LATE 2000 OR EARLY 2001
Dismissing the marriage that was annulled, Amal is Osama’s fifth wife and bore him one daughter, named Safia. No one knows if Amal and her child returned to Yemen after September 11, 2001, or if they remained in Afghanistan during the American bombings.
Children with First Wife, Najwa Ghanem
ABDULLAH
Najwa’s first child and eldest son was born in Jeddah in 1976. As the eldest son, Abdullah held the most honored position of all the children of Osama bin Laden. When he became a teenager, Abdullah began to speak his opinion on matters affecting the family. Abdullah left the family in Khartoum in 1995 when he traveled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to marry his cousin, Tiayba Mohammed bin Laden. Abdullah chose not to return to Khartoum, instead remaining in Jeddah with his wife and children where he operates a small business. Abdullah lives a quiet life, shunning all publicity, although he remains close to his mother, Najwa, whom he visits in Syria. Abdullah was thirty-three years old in 2009.
ABDUL RAHMAN
Najwa’s second child and second son was born in Jeddah in 1978. According to Omar, his brother Abdul Rahman was an exceptional child who had to face unique personal trials. Abdul Rahman departed Afghanistan with his mother in September 2001. Since that time, Abdul Rahman has been unable to reinstate his Saudi nationality and has found it difficult to find employment or to marry without official papers. A talented horseman, Abdul Rahman lives quietly with his mother and two youngest siblings in Latakia, shunning all publicity like his elder brother. Abdul Rahman was thirty-one years old in 2009.
SA’AD
Najwa’s third child and third son was born in Jeddah in 1979. A garrulous child, Sa’ad remained overly talkative even as an adult, often exasperating his brothers and other acquaintances. Osama refused permission for Sa’ad, his Sudanese-born wife, or their son, Osama, to leave Afghanistan with Najwa in 2001. Since then, there have been reports that Sa’ad was arrested while traveling through Iran and may still be in detention in that country, although there is no solid evidence of his incarceration. There was yet another recent report claiming that Sa’ad had been released and had left Iran, but no one, including Najwa, is certain about the fate of her third-born son. In July 2009, reports claimed that Sa’ad may have been killed in a U.S. missile strike in Pakistan, but this has not been confirmed.