DAMASCUS, Syria, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- The youngest son of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden arrived in Damascus from Tehran on Christmas Day, family members said.
Omar bin Laden told London's pan-Arab daily newspaper Asharq al-Awsat that his brother, Bakr bin Laden, joined family members in Damascus after Iranian authorities allowed him to leave the country.
"My brother Bakr arrived from Tehran on Christmas Day, bringing joy to the family and ending the tears of our mother," he said.
Bakr bin Laden, 16, spent the last eight years under the close supervision of authorities in Tehran. His sister, Eman, escaped during a supervised biannual shopping trip in December and took refuge in the Saudi Embassy in Tehran.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said his government was negotiating with the Iranian government to secure her release on humanitarian grounds.
One of bin Laden's six wives, six of his children and 11 grandchildren fled to Iran after disappearing from a camp in Afghanistan about the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States. They have lived under close supervision since then in a compound near Tehran.
