Carmen bin Ladin
Encyclopedia
Carmen Binladin in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
) was a member of the bin Laden family
Bin Laden family
The bin Laden family , also spelled bin Ladin, is a wealthy family intimately connected with the innermost circles of the Saudi royal family. The family was thrown into media spotlight through the activities of one of its members, Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the 9/11 attacks...
. She was raised in Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
by her mother along with three other sisters (Salomé, Béatrice, and Magnolia). Her father was Swiss, hence the name Dufour, and her mother was Persian (Mirdoht-Sheybani).
Carmen was married to one of Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
's older brothers, Yeslam bin Ladin
Yeslam bin Ladin
Yeslam bin Muhammad bin 'Awad bin Ladin better known as Yeslam bin Laden, also written Yeslam Binladin, as he prefers to spell it, is a Swiss businessman and the half-brother of the deceased al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden....
, until 1988. They were married in 1974 in Jeddah
Jeddah
Jeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
. She has three daughters, Wafah Dufour
Wafah Dufour
Wafah Dufour , born in Los Angeles, California, is an American singer-songwriter, socialite, and model .Her father, Yeslam bin Ladin , is Saudi Arabian and her mother, Carmen bin Ladin, is of Swiss father and Iranian mother from a noble family Wafah Dufour (née Wafah Bin Laden), born in Los...
, Najia and Noor.
Published in 2004, Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia is a personal account of her life as a Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
n wife and mother. The book contains insights into life 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 have financially supported and sheltered Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
if necessary, prior to his May 2011 death.
She admits that while she found it difficult to adjust to the restrictive Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
n society, her lifestyle was one of privilege.
She later moved to Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
with her then husband and three children, and finally left her husband in 1988, asking for a divorce in 1994. She alleges that her ex-husband engaged in emotional blackmail including threatening to kidnap her children, adultery, and forced her to undergo an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
. She finally obtained a divorce 12 years later in January 2006. Yeslam bin Ladin
Yeslam bin Ladin
Yeslam bin Muhammad bin 'Awad bin Ladin better known as Yeslam bin Laden, also written Yeslam Binladin, as he prefers to spell it, is a Swiss businessman and the half-brother of the deceased al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden....
is reportedly uninvolved and uninterested in the lives of his former wife and daughters. He is quoted in Carmen Dufour's book as saying that he wished he had sons and not daughters. Yeslam has obtained a Swiss passport
Swiss passport
A Swiss passport is a document known as the passport of the Swiss Confederation.Swiss passports are issued to citizens of Switzerland to facilitate international travel. For traveling inside the European community, Swiss citizens can use an identity card.-History of Swiss passports :The first Swiss...
supposedly for the purpose of pursuing a relationship with his children.
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
Bin Laden family
The bin Laden family , also spelled bin Ladin, is a wealthy family intimately connected with the innermost circles of the Saudi royal family. The family was thrown into media spotlight through the activities of one of its members, Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the 9/11 attacks...
is a large one, and not all family members are directly associated with Osama.