Osama killing: Sons ask for UN probe

Sons of Osama bin Laden have denounced the "arbitrary killing" of their father and demanded a UN investigation on the circumstances that led to his death, as they asked why the al-Qaeda chief was "not arrested" and tried in a court to reveal the truth.

Calling for an UN investigations on the circumstances of their father's death, they accused the US of violating its basic legal principles by killing an unarmed man, shooting his family members and disposing of his body in the sea, the 'New York Times' reported.

The report said the family was asking why the al-Qaeda leader "was not arrested and tried in a court of law so that truth is revealed to the people of the world."

"We maintain that arbitrary killing is not a solution to political problems," the sons' statement said, adding that "justice must be seen to be done."

The sons' statement called on the government of Pakistan to hand over to family members the three wives and several children of the terrorist now believed to be in Pakistani custody and asked for a UN investigation of the circumstances of their father's death.

The statement, prepared at the direction of Omar bin Laden, a son who had publicly denounced his father's terror activities, was provided to 'The New York Times' by Jean Sasson, an American author who helped the younger Bin Laden write a 2009 memoir, "Growing Up bin Laden."

A shorter, slightly different statement was posted on a jihadist Web site yesterday.

Omar bin Laden, 30, lived with his father in Afghanistan until 1999, when he left with his mother, Najwa bin Laden, who co-wrote the memoir.

In the book and other public statements, the younger bin Laden denounced violence of all kinds, a stance he repeated in the sons' statement to The Times.

None of Osama bin Laden's sons other than Omar was named in the statement, so it was unclear exactly who else had approved the message.

"We want to remind the world that Omar bin Laden, the fourth-born son of our father, always disagreed with our father regarding any violence and always sent messages to our father, that he must change his ways and that no civilians should be attacked under any circumstances," the statement said.

"Despite the difficulty of publicly disagreeing with our father, he never hesitated to condemn any violent attacks made by anyone, and expressed sorrow for the victims of any and all attacks."

Condemning the shooting of one of the Qaeda leader's wives during the assault on May 2 in Abbottabad, Pakistan, the statement added: "As he condemned our father, we now condemn the president of the US for ordering the execution of unarmed men and women."