It has been over eight years since Osama Bin Laden was killed by the Navy Seals in Pakistan, and it seems that the Bin Laden family have become irrelevant since then despite their wealthy status.
But one of Osama’s relatives has managed to achieve celebrity status, and that relative is his niece Wafah Dufour. The daughter of his half-brother Yeslam, she spent most of her life in the United States and Switzerland (where her mother was from), and thus embraced Western culture. Wafah was horrified at the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and subsequently changed her last name to Dufour (her mother’s maiden name) to avoid any potential backlash.
There are conflicting stories on whether or not Wafah actually met her infamous uncle. One story says she met him once when she was a little girl, while other accounts claim she never him.
Wafah’s mother Carmen has also embraced Western culture, especially after living in Saudi Arabia for a time. She even wrote a book titled Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia, which describes what life was like for her and her daughters, which consisted of being second-class citizens and practically being confined in the Bin Laden household. But during a vacation in Switzerland in 1985, Yeslam had to be hospitalized, and Carmen took advantage of the situation by enrolling her daughters at a school outside Geneva. Needless to say, Carmen and her daughters never returned to Saudi Arabia. Yeslam and Carmen separated in 1988, and would eventually divorce in 2006. Supposedly neither Carmen nor her daughters had any contact with the Bin Laden family since then.
Wafah would go on to earn a law degree from Geneva University, and a Master’s degree from Columbia Law School. But then she decided to pursue a career in music. After several unsuccessful attempts (e.g. collaborating with Atlanta rock band Black Lips, collaborating with Madonna’s producer Nellee Hooper, and even a reality show), Wafah managed to form her own music band known as Deep Tan this year.
Wafah Dufour has also posed for GQ Magazine, and some of her photos are considered to be provocative, including a photo of her in a bubble bath. Thus, her photos (as well as her embracing Western culture) would not set well with her paternal relatives in Saudi Arabia, where she probably would be killed should she ever return to that country.
Meanwhile, time will tell if her band Deep Tan will be successful.
