Carmen bin Ladin

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Carmen bin Ladin, born Carmen Dufour, in Geneva, Switzerland, is a member of the bin Laden family. She was raised in Lausanne by her mother only in Switzerland with three little sisters (Salomé, Béatrice, and Magnolia). Her father is Swiss (Dufour) and her mother Persian (Mirdoht-Sheybani).

Carmen (56 years old) was married to one of Osama bin Laden's older brothers, Yeslam bin Ladin, until 1988. They were married in 1974 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She has three daughters, Wafah Dufour (born 1975), Najia (born 1978), and Noor (born 1987).

Published in 2004, Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia is a personal account of her life as a Saudi Arabian wife & mother, in addition to insights on what life is like in the bin Laden family and her relationship with them and her former husband. She claims that no matter how Westernized her ex-husband or other bin Laden family members may be, they still feel strong familial and religious ties and would financially support and shelter Osama bin Laden if necessary.

She also admits that while she had a difficult period of adjustment living in the strict Saudi Arabian society, she was not an average citizen, as the bin Laden family provided an amount of wealth and lifestyle considered privileged in that, and any, society, including posh accommodations, and luxuries like tennis courts, expensive cars, and large sums of money to frivolously spend. This describes the amount of power and influence the bin Laden clan has obtained with business and government connections throughout the years.

She moved to Geneva with her husband and three children, left her husband in 1988, and asked for divorce in 1994. She was divorced after 15 years in January 2006. Yeslam bin Ladin is uninvolved and uninterested in their lives, being quoted in the book as stating he wished he had sons, not daughters. Yeslam obtained a Swiss passport supposedly for the purpose of pursuing a relationship with his children, but as of yet has not done so.

Carmen altered the spelling of her last name in recent years to distance herself from the infamous Osama. In her book she writes that she had only seen Osama on two occasions and that they did not really speak. She emphasizes that the bin Laden family is a large one, and not all family members are directly associated with Osama.