FM: No extradition of Osama family sought

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 8 (UPI) -- Pakistani authorities holding the three wives of Osama bin Laden have not received an extradition request from any country, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

Tahmina Janjua, speaking to a private television channel Sunday, said authorities were holding the three wives, including Yemeni-born Amal Ahmed Abdullfattah, 29, and eight children of the al-Qaida leader, Pakistan's News International reported.

Bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in a predawn raid last Monday on his compound in the garrison town of Abbottabad near Islamabad.

The News International said the family members were taken into custody by Pakistani security agencies after bin Laden's killing.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Janjua was quoted as saying neither Yemen nor any other country had asked for their extradition.

U.S. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon was quoted as telling NBC's "Meet the Press," that the Pakistanis "need to provide us with intelligence … from the compound that they gathered, including access to Osama bin Laden's three wives whom they have in custody."

Donilon told ABC that information seized from bin Laden's compound shows bin Laden "was engaged not just in being a symbolic leader of al-Qaida, but he was involved in the strategic and operational leadership."

Pakistan has not disclosed the location where the family members were being held but its officials have said they would be returned to their countries of origin. The ages of the children have not been disclosed.

However, one of his sons was reportedly killed during the raid and Abdullfattah, his youngest wife, was shot in the leg and was initially taken to a military hospital, a military official was quoted as saying.

A Pakistani official told the BBC that officials questioning Abdullfattah were told bin Laden had recovered from his kidney problems and he had been "in perfect health."

The official also told the BBC Pakistani authorities had not received any request from Washington to extradite her.