Exclusive Interview: Bin Laden's Sister-in-Law

Oct. 24, 2001 -- The first time Carmen bin Laden met her brother-in-law Osama, he turned his back on her.

"Somebody knocked at the door. Instinctively I opened the door and here was that man. I just got a glance at him, and he turned his back because I was unveiled and he didn't want to see me," recalls Carmen, who married one of Osama's 23 brothers, Yeslam.

This occurred in the mid-1970s, years before bin Laden would go to Afghanistan to help the mujahideen fight off the Soviet invaders — and establish what would later become the terrorist network al Qaeda.

"I knew he was religious because he was the only brother who would refuse to see me," Carmen says in an exclusive interview airing on Primetime Thursday. "This was how Osama was at that time."

Swiss-born Carmen married Yeslam in Saudi Arabia in 1974. They spent a few years in Los Angeles, moved back to Saudi Arabia, and by the mid-1980s, Carmen became estranged from her husband, moving to Europe with their three children. She says she has not had contact with the bin Laden family in 11 years.

Carmen tells ABCNEWS' Diane Sawyer that having the bin Laden name has become a "terrible" burden. She describes herself and her children as "ordinary people caught in an extraordinary situation."

A former student at the University of Southern California, Carmen condemns the Sept. 11 attacks, saying they left her feeling "like they hurt my country."

She adds: "In my head I said, 'The freedom is gone. What made America different is gone.'"

When she first heard accusations that Osama might have orchestrated the attacks, the possibility took a while to sink in. "It's such a huge thing that you don't believe people would do such things. Then I realized, yeah, it could be."

Carmen says she does not hate her husband's brother: "I don't like him ... I cannot hate somebody. Hate, for me, it's a terrible thing. He hates people and look what he has become."

She adds: "I think in a very personal way, who is he to tell me what I have to think? ... I am afraid that Osama or the like of him want to tell people how to live, what is the vision of Islam."

Interview Excerpts

Following are additional excerpts from the exclusive interview:

On the extended bin Laden family:

"In Saudi Arabia it's a normal family, but very rich family .... They are not normal because there are so many of them. They were lucky that their father was a really great man and had made that [construction] company. I have heard by people that he was a really great, great man who was a visionary."

On rumors that Osama bin Laden was isolated within his family:"It's not true .... He was a brother like the other brothers .... He doesn't have the same mother — most of them, they don't have the same mother, there were so many wives — but they are all brothers .... He was not raised differently."

About Osama's immediate family:"When I was in Saudi Arabia, he had one wife and he had seven sons .... I heard later on that he had gotten married again, and I don't know now how many children he has."

On the bin Ladens' religious convictions:"He was the religious one. There are others who are religious, too. Not to the extent of him. Osama has become more radical to the West. But I think there are some of his brothers who were religious, who would think the way Osama is saying ... but their religion's very strong.... I think all of the bin Laden family are religious."

On Osama bin Laden's reputation after he helped force the Soviets' withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989:

"In the family, in everybody, in Saudi Arabia, the society, everybody, he was considered as a hero."

On Osama bin Laden's finances:"I really don't know how much, but I think Osama has a lot of backing from Saudi Arabia, from the family, money-wise."

On Osama bin Laden's support in Saudi Arabia:"What I have heard is he has the backing of some of the royal family. They think the same way. Not all of them, but some of them. You have to understand, I think in Saudi Arabia Osama bin Laden has a little following. And in my opinion, this is what makes him dangerous .... Because he has, I think, he has the backing of a lot of people there."

On whether some members of the bin Laden family may have ever helped finance Osama's activities:"My opinion is yes ... I think they would say, 'OK, this is for Islam.' They would give. For Islam they would give."

On her mother-in-law:"I was close to her ... she was a nice woman. She's alive and I hope she's well."

On why she is speaking out:"I am doing it because I am afraid for my daughters ... they don't have anything to do with the barbaric act that has been committed in the United States."