The family members of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who were in the Abbottabad house with him during the U.S. operations to nab him dead or alive on Sunday night, are in Pakistani custody. This was confirmed on Tuesday by the Foreign Office here as questions were being asked about their whereabouts.
In a statement, the Foreign Office said all were in safe hands and being looked after in accordance with the law. Without going into details of their number or condition, the statement said those among them who needed medical care were being provided treatment in the best possible facilities.
“As per policy, they will be handed over to their countries of origin,” the statement added, indicating the possibility of their being of different nationalities.
As for the questions that have been raised about the compound in which Osama was hiding — particularly the high walls and its proximity to the Pakistan Military Academy — the Foreign Office sought to point out that this was common in houses occupied by affectees of military operations in the federally administered tribal Areas and Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa.
Given the purdah system prevalent in those parts where segregation of the sexes is strictly adhered to, houses with high boundary walls are in line with their culture of privacy and security. So, such houses are not a rarity, is Pakistan's answer to criticism why such a walled structure went unnoticed.
Meanwhile, the fortified compound remained out of bounds to the media for the second day on Tuesday.
