英媒稱拉登失蹤家人現棲身伊朗

Some of the closest relatives of Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden are living in a secret compound in Iran, Britain's the Times newspaper reported Wednesday.

The group includes a wife and children who disappeared from bin Laden's Afghan camp at the time of the 9/11 attacks on the United States in 2001, the report added.

It said other relatives found out last month that the group, including one of bin Laden's wives, six of his children and 11 of his grandchildren, had been kept in a high-security compound outside Tehran for the past eight years.

The Times quoted Omar bin Laden, 29, who it said was the Al-Qaida leader's fourth-eldest son, as saying he had no idea that his brothers and sisters were still alive until they called him in November.

They told him how they had fled Afghanistan just before the 9/11 attacks and walked to the Iranian border. They were taken to a walled compound outside Teheran where guards said they were not allowed to leave "for their own safety".

One of the children, a daughter called Iman, had recently escaped during a rare trip outside the compound and made her way to the Saudi Arabian Embassy. She is now living there while seeking permission to leave Iran.

Omar bin Laden said that his relatives lived as normal a life as possible, cooking meals, watching television and reading. They were allowed out only rarely for shopping trips.

As a number of families are being held in the compound some of the older siblings have been able to marry and have their own children.

"The Iranian Government did not know what to do with this large group of people that nobody else wanted, so they just kept them safe. For that we owe them much gratitude, and thank Iran from the depth of our heart," he said.

He now hopes that the family will be given permission to leave Iran and join his mother, brother and two sisters in Syria, or himself and his wife in Qatar.

US soldiers and Afghan militia forces launched a large-scale assault on the Tora Bora mountains in 2001 in pursuit of Saudi-born bin Laden. Bin Laden has never been found and is believed to still be hiding in the mountainous border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan
據英國《泰晤士報》本週三報道，基地組織頭目奧薩馬•本•拉登的一些最近的親屬目前棲身在伊朗的一個祕密圍地。

該報道稱，這些親人包括本•拉登的一名妻子和幾個孩子，2001年美國9•11襲擊事件發生時，他們從拉登在阿富汗的營地消失。

報道稱，拉登的其他親屬於上月獲悉，拉登的這些親人在過去八年裏一直住在德黑蘭郊外的一個高設防的圍地，其中包括本•拉登的一個妻子，六個孩子以及11個孫輩。

《泰晤士報》援引拉登的第四個兒子、29歲的奧馬爾•本•拉登的話說，他一直不知道他的兄弟姐妹還活着，直到11月份接到他們的電話。

他們告訴了奧馬爾他們在9•11襲擊前逃離阿富汗並徒步走到伊朗邊境的經過。他們被帶到德黑蘭郊外的一個四面築有高牆的圍地，那裏的看守說“出於安全考慮”禁止他們離開此地。

最近，本•拉登的一個女兒伊曼利用一次難得的外出機會逃離該圍地並找到沙特阿拉伯大使館。她現在住在那裏，同時一邊申請離開伊朗。

奧馬爾•本•拉登說，他的家人在那裏過着再正常不過的生活，做飯，看電視，看書。他們很少能外出，偶爾可以出去買點東西。

由於好多家庭都被關在這個圍地，幾個較年長的兄弟姐妹已經結婚並生了孩子。

他說：“伊朗政府不知道如何處置這麼多沒人敢收留的人，所以只能保證他們的安全。對此我們非常感激，我們從心底感謝伊朗政府。”

現在他希望他的家人能夠獲准離開伊朗，和他的媽媽、兄弟和兩個姐妹在敘利亞團聚，或是去卡塔爾，和他們一家一起生活。

2001年，美國士兵和阿富汗民兵部隊爲了追捕出生於沙特阿拉伯的本•拉登對托拉博拉山區發動了大規模進攻。本•拉登一直下落不明，據估計現在他仍然藏在阿富汗和巴基斯坦邊境交界處的山區地帶。

Vocabulary:

compound: an enclosed area used for confining prisoners of war 圍地

militia: an army composed of ordinary citizens rather than professional soldiers 民兵部隊