London, Feb 13: Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden told his children to live in the West where they would get good education and “not to follow him down the road to jihad”, his brother-in-law has revealed.

“He (Osama) told his own children and grandchildren, ''Go to Europe and America and get a good education'',” Zakaria al-Sadah told The Sunday Times.

Three of Bin Laden''s wives and nine of his children are currently being held in a tight security compound in Islamabad.

Sadah said that he had been allowed to see his sister several times since he arrived in Pakistan from Yemen in November to secure their release.

But he said that the children remained troubled by the commando raid that killed their father.

“These children have seen their father killed and they need a caring environment, not a prison – whatever you think of their father and what he has done,” The Telegraph quoted Sadah, as saying.

Sadah said that Amal and Bin Laden''s other wives, Khairiah and Siham Sabar who are both from Saudi Arabia, had gone on a hunger strike in protest at their incarceration.

“The children will not eat also, as they are too traumatized. They have heaters for the winter cold and restricted access to television. But they have hardly seen the sun in nine months. They feel as if they are shouting in the dark,” he added.

Meanwhile, a senior Pakistani security official reaffirmed on Sunday that they are ready to free Osama’s family and return them to Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

“They are with us now and are living are comfortable life. It''s a case of waiting for their respective countries to take them back,” the official said.