Omar bin Laden escaped during raid, Osama's widow says

May 11, 2011, 10:21 by R.E. Christian

Osama bin Laden's wives say one of his sons vanished during the U.S. raid that killed the al-Qaida leader at his compound, Pakistani officials say.

The wives are now in Pakistani custody. U.S. officials say that in addition to bin Laden, three men, one of them a son, Khalid, and a woman, were killed during the May 1 raid on his home in Abbotabad but that no prisoners were removed or bodies except bin Laden's, ABC News reported.

Pakistani officials said at least one man at the compound appears to be unaccounted for. They said the wives identified him as a bin Laden son.

Bin Laden as a Muslim was allowed to have at least four wives. He was married several times with some relationships ending in divorce, and had a large number of children.

Pakistani officials say the United States will be able to question bin Laden's wives, but one told ABC no date has been set.

Richard Clarke, an expert on terrorism, said bin Laden did not train his sons to succeed him. One son, Omar, broke with his father and wrote a memoir.

Source: UPI