Saad Bin Laden - Life

Life

Saad accompanied his father and his brothers on bin Laden's exile to Sudan from 1991 to 1996, and followed him to Afghanistan after that. When Hamid Mir interviewed Osama, he noted that 16-year old Saad was carrying a gun and asked him whether he was following in the footsteps of his father, to which Saad replied "No, I am following in the footsteps of my prophet."

He was believed to be married to a woman from Yemen. After 9/11, Saad fled to Iran and was later detained and placed under house arrest by Iranian authorities. Iran stated that a number of al-Qaeda leaders and members were in their custody.

Saad was believed to have been involved in the bombing of a Tunisian synagogue on 11 April 2002, which killed 19 people. In March 2003, there were disputed claims of his capture by Pakistan, though these proved false, and he was implicated in the 12 May 2003 suicide bombing in Riyadh, and the Morocco bombing four days later.

In January 2009, however, US Intelligence officials confirmed that Saad was no longer being held in Iranian custody and was likely hiding in Pakistan. Letters exchanged between Saad and his brother Khalid bin Laden revealed that he fled from Iranian custody around this time and escaped to Pakistan, while many of his relatives were still detained. The report of his escape was also confirmed by his younger sister Eman bin Laden, who also managed to escape from Iranian custody and flee to Saudi Arabia.