Osama Bin Laden's three widows have been charged by Pakistan with illegally entering the country.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the women, reported to be two Saudis and a Yemeni, had been charged but did not say when the hearing took place.
The wives and about 10 children were taken into custody last May when US commandos raided their safe house.
The three women had been living in the compound in Abbottabad that Navy Seals attacked, killing Bin Laden.
Mr Malik told reporters in Islamabad that "only the adults had been charged" and the children were free to return to their native countries if their mothers agreed.
Legal experts say the maximum term the women could get is five years.
It is not clear if these three women are Bin Laden's only widows - it has been reported that he had up to six wives.
Last June, a Pakistani commission was charged with investigating how the al-Qaeda leader had managed to stay in Pakistan undetected.
The commission said his wives should not be allowed to leave the country until they had been interviewed.
Despite having a $25m (£15m) bounty on his head for his role in organising the 9/11 attacks on the US, Bin Laden managed to live in the Abbottabad compound with his wives and children for nearly five years.
You would think the Interior minister would have greater and more urgent priorities to address than to charge these women. I think its time to move and if this is the only crime they can charge these women with - then its time to let them repatriate to wherever and the children lead "normal lives" if that will ever be possible
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the women, reported to be two Saudis and a Yemeni, had been charged but did not say when the hearing took place.
The wives and about 10 children were taken into custody last May when US commandos raided their safe house.
The three women had been living in the compound in Abbottabad that Navy Seals attacked, killing Bin Laden.
Mr Malik told reporters in Islamabad that "only the adults had been charged" and the children were free to return to their native countries if their mothers agreed.
Legal experts say the maximum term the women could get is five years.
It is not clear if these three women are Bin Laden's only widows - it has been reported that he had up to six wives.
Last June, a Pakistani commission was charged with investigating how the al-Qaeda leader had managed to stay in Pakistan undetected.
The commission said his wives should not be allowed to leave the country until they had been interviewed.
Despite having a $25m (£15m) bounty on his head for his role in organising the 9/11 attacks on the US, Bin Laden managed to live in the Abbottabad compound with his wives and children for nearly five years.
You would think the Interior minister would have greater and more urgent priorities to address than to charge these women. I think its time to move and if this is the only crime they can charge these women with - then its time to let them repatriate to wherever and the children lead "normal lives" if that will ever be possible