Carmen bin Ladin (''née'' Dufour; born 1954) is a Swiss author. She was a member of the bin Ladin family, having entered the family by marriage to Yeslam bin Ladin, a son of the patriarch Muhammad bin Ladin; they have since divorced.

Biography

Early life

Carmen Dufour was born in 1954 in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Her father was

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

(N. Dufour) and her mother was

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

(''née'' Mehrdokht Sheybani). She was raised in Lausanne by her mother along with three other sisters (Salomé, Béatrice, and Magnolia).

Adult life

From 1974 to 1988, she was married to Yeslam bin Ladin, an older half-brother of

Osama bin Ladin Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and supported ...

. They were married in 1974 in

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. They had three daughters, Wafah Dufour, Najia and Noor. In 2004, she published ''Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia'', a personal account of her life as a

n wife and mother. The book contains insights into life in the bin Ladin family and her relationship with them and her former husband. She claims that no matter how

westernized Westernization (or Westernisation, see spelling differences), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt what is considered to be Western culture, in areas such as industry, ...

her ex-husband or other bin Ladin family members may be, they still feel strong familial and religious ties, and would have financially supported and sheltered

if necessary, prior to his May 2011 death. She admits that while she found it difficult to adjust to the restrictive

n society, her lifestyle was one of privilege. She later moved to

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

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 is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

. She finally obtained a divorce 12 years later in January 2006. Yeslam bin Ladin 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 The Swiss passport is a biometric passport, biometric identity document issued by the Swiss Confederation. It can be ordinary or provisional, or in special cases, diplomatic or service-related. There is also a green Swiss passport for foreigners ...

supposedly for the purpose of pursuing a relationship with his children. In her book, she writes that she had only seen Osama bin Ladin on two occasions and that they did not really speak. She emphasizes that the bin Ladin family is a large one, and not all family members are directly associated with Osama bin Ladin.

References

* Bin Ladin, Carmen. ''Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia.'' Warner Books: New York, 2004.

External links

Powell's book page
{{DEFAULTSORT:bin Laden, Carmen 1954 births Living people Former Muslim critics of Islam Writers from Lausanne

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

Swiss writers Swiss people of Iranian descent Swiss former Muslims

Biography

Early life

Adult life

See also

References

External links