Bin Laden family evacuated from US

Saudi Arabia has helped evacuate 24 members of the extended family of Osama bin Laden from the US.

The country's ambassador supervised their passage home after fears the relatives could face a backlash following the September 11 attacks.

Prince Badar bin Sultan says he traced the family members on the orders of Saudi ruler King Fahd. He wanted measures be taken to "protect the innocents", Prince Badar said.

Badar said: "One of bin Laden's brothers called the Saudi embassy frantically looking for protection. He was sent to a room in Watergate Hotel and told not to open the door."

FBI escorted the family members to a secret assembly point in Texas and then to Washington from where they left the country in a chartered plane after airports re-opened three days after the attacks.

Osama bin Laden is one of more than 50 children of a Yemeni-born migrant who made a vast fortune building roads and palaces in Saudi Arabia.

The rest of the family disowned Osama years ago after he was exiled from Saudi Arabia.