Bin Laden widows deported from Pakistan

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The three widows of Osama bin Laden and their children have left for the Islamabad airport to be deported to Saudi Arabia, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

The Pakistani government said the family left for the “country of their choice, Saudi Arabia,� according to the wire service.

This month, the widows were sentenced to 45 days in jail each for illegally entering and living in Pakistan. The women were questioned by intelligence officials asking how Bin Laden was able to elude capture for so many years, even while living in a Pakistani garrison town.

One of the women cooperated with investigators, giving an account that revealed Bin Laden had lived in five safe houses and fathered four children while on the run, moving from Peshawar to the Swat Valley to Abbottabad after the Sept. 11 attacks. Her story was made public late last month.

However, her account did not answer whether the failure to detect Bin Laden’s presence was a mistake or whether the authorities were involved in hiding him.

Bin Laden was killed when U.S. Navy SEALs raided his Abbottabad compound nearly a year ago.

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-- Emily Alpert in Los Angeles