Osama's widows, family to be charged for illegal Pak stay

A Pakistani court will formally charge slain al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's widows and other family members for illegally entering and living in the country next week, a defence lawyer said today.

The court is expected to frame charges against three widows and two of Bin Laden's grown up daughters on April 2, lawyer Muhammad Aamir told the media.

The Federal Investigation Agency had filed a case against Bin Laden's family members earlier this month under the Foreigners Act and Pakistan Penal Code for illegally entering and living in the country.

The family members are currently being held in a house in Islamabad that has been declared a sub-jail.

The court provided the five women copies of the charges and evidence against them today.

If the women are convicted, they could be deported or imprisoned.

Under Pakistani law, the maximum sentence for such offences is five years, Aamir said.

The family members were detained by Pakistani security agencies after US special forces killed Bin Laden at a compound in the garrison town of Abbottabad on May 2 last year.

Bin Laden's two Saudi Arabian and one Yemeni wives were living with him along with eight of their children and three employees.