Osama Bin Laden's mother describes him as 'good kid' who was 'brainwashed'

In an interview to a leading British daily, terror chief Osama Bin Laden's mother Alia Ghanem opened up about his jihadist son who was behind one of the most horrific terror attacks -- the 9/11.

She shared having never expected her son to turn into a jihadi. Ghanem described her son as a "good kid" who was "brainwashed" by the fundamentalists during his early 20s. 

The Ladens, who live in Saudi Arabia, revealed they were ashamed of Osama and that they suspected his involvement in the 9/11 attack when the news of the incident made headlines. 

Osama's turn to jihad happened in Jeddah at the King Abdulaziz University. He began by joining the fight against Russian occupation, the family noted.

Osama's half-brother, Ahmad, noted Ghanem's deep love for her son. He shared that Ghanem was still in denial and would never blame Osama. 

Meanwhile, UK-based photographer David Levene recently photographed the Ladens at their "palatial" residence in Saudi. Levene shared his experience with WION. 

"I photographed them at the residence in Saudi Arabia which looked very palatial," Levene shared.

He described Ghanem as a strong matriarch. "While the mother was in denial, Osama's brothers were easy to talk to and were not in denial of his terror activities," Levene shared. 

He also shared that Ghanem was not very comfortable on being photographed and that he was given only 10 minutes to shoot with her.

Al-Qaeda founder and terror mastermind Osama Bin Laden was tracked down and killed by a special US operations team in May 2011.