Nearly a year ago, Navy SEALs successfully raided the compound of Osama bin Laden, who had been hiding in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and killed the al Qaeda mastermind.
With bin Laden gone, the family he smuggled along as he evaded international authorities has been instrumental in learning more about how bin Laden lived in the decade following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The family has been in the custody of Pakistani authorities since bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011. After being prosecuted for illegal entry, bin Laden's wives, along with their 11 children, will be deported to Saudi Arabia, though it's believed that his Yemeni-born wife will return to her native country.
Before the three widows were sentenced, Pakistani authorities elicited testimony from all three who were with bin Laden in his compound. Although two of his wives have generally refused to cooperate, according to reports, the youngest of bin Laden's wives, Amal Ahmad Abdul Fateh, has given authorities the clearest picture yet of what life was like on the run
Although reports of bin Laden's whereabouts often portrayed him as hiding away in caves along the mountainous Af-Pak border, the terrorist leader was actually moving around urban areas of Pakistan.
According to the testimony of his youngest wife, the family, though scattered occasionally, moved among five different safe houses
Even Abbottabad, the site of bin Laden's final hideout, has been described as a "peaceful hill resort," a far cry from the conditions in which bin Laden was supposed to be concealing himself
Bin Laden fathered four children in his 10 years on the lam.
Over the 10 years that bin Laden spent dodging international authorities, he fathered two boys and two girls with Fateh, all of whom were born in Pakistan. The two also had a child in Afghanistan before the attacks of 9/11.
Bin Laden also traveled with his two other wives and two adult daughters from his previous marriages.
Bin Laden's wives do not get along.
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