Hamida al-Attas

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Hamida al-Attas, nee A'alia Ghanem,[1] (born 1934) is the mother of Osama bin Laden. She came from a Sunni Syrian family of two brothers and another sister[1], although it has been rumoured that her family are Alawites.[2][3][4] She married Mohammed bin Laden in Latakia in 1956 and moved to Saudi Arabia with her husband.[1] She was the tenth wife of Mohammed bin Laden.[5] (Her husband had at least 11 wives but divorced many, having only four wives at once, in line with Muslim law.)[6] It has been reported that she was a concubine rather than wife of Mohammed bin Laden.[6] She was more cosmopolitan than Mohammed's first three Wahhabi Saudi wives.[7]

Osama bin Laden was her only child with Mohammad bin Laden. She often spent summers at her brother Naji's home in Latakia and Osama went with her until he was 17.[1] In 1974, when Osama was 18, he married her brother's daughter, 14-year-old Najwa Ghanem, who had been promised to him.[1]

Hamida later married Mohammed al-Attas and had 4 other children, including Ahmad Mohammed.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Bar'el, Zvi (2002-09-12). Qaida's Lebanese Hydra. Retrieved on 2007-10-19.
  2. ^ CNN.com - Transcripts
  3. ^ Bin Laden's mother tried to stop him, Syrian kin say - Family, New York City - chicagotribune.com
  4. ^ Prelude To Terror
  5. ^ Profile: Hamida al-Attas. Retrieved on 2006-08-21.
  6. ^ a b c Bin Laden Family Believes Osama Is Alive. CNN (2002-03-19). Retrieved on 2007-10-19.
  7. ^ Salon.com News - The making of Osama bin Laden. Salon.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-21.
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