英媒称拉登失踪家人现栖身伊朗

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
据英国《泰晤士报》本周三报道，基地组织头目奥萨马•本•拉登的一些最近的亲属目前栖身在伊朗的一个秘密围地。

该报道称，这些亲人包括本•拉登的一名妻子和几个孩子，2001年美国9•11袭击事件发生时，他们从拉登在阿富汗的营地消失。

报道称，拉登的其他亲属于上月获悉，拉登的这些亲人在过去八年里一直住在德黑兰郊外的一个高设防的围地，其中包括本•拉登的一个妻子，六个孩子以及11个孙辈。

《泰晤士报》援引拉登的第四个儿子、29岁的奥马尔•本•拉登的话说，他一直不知道他的兄弟姐妹还活着，直到11月份接到他们的电话。

他们告诉了奥马尔他们在9•11袭击前逃离阿富汗并徒步走到伊朗边境的经过。他们被带到德黑兰郊外的一个四面筑有高墙的围地，那里的看守说“出于安全考虑”禁止他们离开此地。

最近，本•拉登的一个女儿伊曼利用一次难得的外出机会逃离该围地并找到沙特阿拉伯大使馆。她现在住在那里，同时一边申请离开伊朗。

奥马尔•本•拉登说，他的家人在那里过着再正常不过的生活，做饭，看电视，看书。他们很少能外出，偶尔可以出去买点东西。

由于好多家庭都被关在这个围地，几个较年长的兄弟姐妹已经结婚并生了孩子。

他说：“伊朗政府不知道如何处置这么多没人敢收留的人，所以只能保证他们的安全。对此我们非常感激，我们从心底感谢伊朗政府。”

现在他希望他的家人能够获准离开伊朗，和他的妈妈、兄弟和两个姐妹在叙利亚团聚，或是去卡塔尔，和他们一家一起生活。

2001年，美国士兵和阿富汗民兵部队为了追捕出生于沙特阿拉伯的本•拉登对托拉博拉山区发动了大规模进攻。本•拉登一直下落不明，据估计现在他仍然藏在阿富汗和巴基斯坦边境交界处的山区地带。

Vocabulary:

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

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