Riyadh - Agencies
Saudi Arabia has indicated that it will allow Osama bin Laden\'s wives and family members, who were recently deported from Pakistan, to remain in the kingdom. This comes after the Saudi authorities claimed that they have no evidence indicating that the wives and children were \"involved in terrorism\". According to British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, added that the Saudis said that the dead al-Qaeda leader\'s family were met in the city of Jeddah by bin Laden family members. Pakistan said the 14-member group, including three of bin Laden\'s widows and their children, were deported on Friday after weeks of negotiations. Saudi Press Agency, which is state-run, cited an \"official source\", said there was \"no information or evidence of the family\'s involvement or participation in any criminal or illegal acts\". The agency said that the deportations were handled on \"humanitarian, legal and religious\" grounds. One of the widows is Yemeni and the other two are Saudi citizens. Relatives of bin Laden\'s Yemeni widow, Amal Ahmed Abdel-Fatah al-Sada, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Friday, that she had received assurances from Saudi officials that she and her five children could remain in the kingdom. Bin Laden was killed on 2 May last year in a raid on his compound in Pakistan by US Navy Seals. His widows were later interrogated by Pakistani intelligence agents and convicted – along with two adult daughters – of illegally entering and living in the country. Their 45-day prison term, which was spent at a closely guarded house in Islamabad, ended earlier this month. Saudi Arabia stripped bin Laden of his citizenship in 1994 because of his denunciations of the Saudi royal family, but Sunday\'s statement suggested his wives and families would not be affected .