They had been in custody since the US special forces killed the Al Qaeda chief in a raid on his hideout in Pakistan's Abbotabad town in May last year. The family members, including the widows - two Saudi Arabians and a Yemeni - were handed over to Saudi officials prior to their departure, Xinhua reported.

The Yemeni widow and her five children will be later sent to Yemen from Saudi Arabia. A large contingent of police were deployed minutes before they left for the Benazir Bhutto International Airport from a house here where they had been held.