Head of bin Laden family dies

The patriarch of Osama bin Laden's Saudi-based family has died aged 75.

Abdullah Awad bin Laden, uncle of Osama bin Laden, died and was buried in Medina on March 21.

As head of his family, it was Abdullah bin Laden who issued a statement offering condolences to those who lost loved ones in the September 11 attacks blamed on Osama bin Laden.

The statement also offered "strong condemnation of this tragic incident of which many men, women and children were victims and which contradicts the teachings of our religion, Islam."

The bin Laden family has now published a full-page notice in London-based newspaper Asharq al-Awsat expressing "its sincere gratitude and appreciation to all those who presented their condolences on the death of the family's head, Sheik Abdullah Awad bin Laden".

The notices did not give the cause of death or list survivors. Abdullah bin Laden had suffered from high blood pressure and diabetes. Family members have refused to comment.

Though he was head of the family, over the last decade Abdullah bin Laden had had little to do with the day-to-day running of the lucrative family business, the Saudi bin Laden Group.

Osama bin Laden's father and Abdullah bin Laden's younger brother, Yemeni immigrant Mohammed bin Laden, started the enterprise as a construction firm in the 1930s.

The business grew to include mining and telecommunications and had an estimated £2.1 billion to £1 billion in annual revenue. It is now headed by Bakr bin Laden, one of Mohammed bin Laden's 54 sons.

The bin Laden family disavowed any links with Osama bin Laden in 1994, the year when Saudi Arabia stripped him of his citizenship for his opposition activities.