The Bin Laden who got away: Was 'Crown Prince of Terror' the son who escaped U.S. special forces raid? 
 
 
 
 By Daily Mail Reporter 
 
 
 
 Captured wives tell Pakistani interrogators one of Bin Laden's sons has not been seen since night of raid 
 
 President Obama insisted U.S. assault force had to be large enough to fight way out of country if necessary 
 
 One of Osama Bin Laden's sons went missing on the night U.S. special forces stormed their squalid hideout and shot the terror mastermind dead, Pakistani security officials have revealed. 
 
 
 
 They fear he could be Bin Laden's youngest son, 19-year-old Hamza, who has been dubbed the 'Crown Prince of Terror'. 
 
 Three of Bin Laden's wives and several of his children were taken into custody by Pakistani intelligence forces after the raid - but now it appears one of his sons may have evaded capture. 
 
 
 
 The revelation came as fascinating new details emerged of the U.S. assault force dispatched to find Osama Bin Laden, including the president's insistence that it had to be large enough to fight off hostile Pakistani soldiers if need be. 
 
 
 
 Missing? Osama Bin Laden's youngest son, Hamza, may have escaped during the raid by U.S. forces. He is pictured here aged around 14, in a propaganda video 
 
 President Obama's determination to send a large task-force into Pakistan shows he was willing to risk a confrontation with the country, a close ally, if it meant capturing the Al Qaeda mastermind. 
 
 News of Hamza's apparent escape emerged during the interrogation of Bin Laden's three wives by Pakistani investigators. 
 
 Officials told ABC News the women had revealed one of the terror leader's sons had not been seen since the raid - but the source did not confirm which one. 
 
 
 
 Another son, 22-year-old Khalid, was confirmed dead by the U.S. military. He is believed to have been one of the men shown in graphic photos taken in the aftermath of the raid and released to Reuters last week. 
 
 Hideout: Osama Bin Laden was sharing his squalid lair with several of his children and three of his wives, including Amal al-Sadah, right, the youngest. She was shot in the leg when she charged at U.S. forces 
 
 
 
 Squalid lair: The compound where Osama Bin Laden was shot dead by U.S. Navy SEALs on May 1. It is believed his youngest son may have escaped 
 
 Initially, the White House said Hamza was presumed dead, too, although it was not known for certain whether he was inside the compound when U.S. Navy SEALs struck. 
 
 SQUALID LAIR: WHO WAS BIN LADEN HIDING WITH IN ABBOTTABAD? 
 
 Bin Laden shared the squalid three-storey compound with two other families: 
 
 Sheikh Abu Ahmed, known as Arshad Khan 
 
 Khan, Bin Laden's trusted courier, lived there with his wife and children, believed to be aged three and four. Khan was killed in the raid, as was a woman believed to be his wife. 'Tariq' 
 
 Little is known about this man, but locals believed he was Khan's brother. He also moved his wife and children into the compound, and was shot in the attack. 
 
 The Bin Ladens 
 
 Bin Laden shared the top two floors with three of his wives and an unknown number of his younger children. Both he and his son Khalid were shot dead by U.S. special forces. 
 
 Pakistani officials say they are holding Bin Laden's three widows, and eight or nine children belonging to all three men. 
 
 But according to ABC his mother is among the three widows being held by Pakistan intelligence. 
 
 
 
 She is thought to be Khairiah Sabar, who married Bin Laden in 1985. 
 
 
 
 Bin Laden's youngest wife, Yemeni Amal al-Sadah, was shot in the leg as she charged at U.S. forces when they stormed the compound. 
 
 All three women are due to be interrogated by U.S. agents soon, after days of wrangling with Pakistani officials who have been interviewing the widows themselves. 
 
 Hamza was widely seen as his father's heir. He had been implicated in the murder of Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto. 
 
 Pakistani investigators agreed it appeared someone was missing from the squalid lair where Bin Laden was shot dead on Sunday. 
 
 The terror mastermind shared the hideout with three of his five wives and several of his younger children, including his 12-year-old daughter, Safiyah. 
 
 According to Pakistani officials, the girl watched her father die and described how she saw his bloody body being hoisted into a U.S. helicopter. 
 
 Pakistani authorities say they are holding eight or nine children who were found there after the U.S. commandos left, some of whom were related to Bin Laden's courier, who was also killed in the raid. 
 
 Altogether, Pakistani officials say they captured 17 people left behind in the compound after U.S. forces left. 
 
 Young terrorist: Hamza Bin Laden appeared in a 2001 propaganda video when he was aged about ten, reading a jihadist poem at his brother's wedding 
 
 They are thought to include the wife of 'Tariq', believed to be the brother of Bin Laden's trusted courier, Sheikh Abu Ahmed. 
 
 Bin Laden's youngest son, Hamza, has in the past been dubbed as the Crown Prince of Terror and was widely-tipped to succeed his father. 
 
 He has made at least two appearances in Bin Laden's propaganda videos. 
 
 
 
 In one, released in 2001 and made at the wedding of his brother Mohammed, Hamza wore combat dress and read a poem dedicated to his father’s exploits. 
 
 One passage went: ‘I’m warning America that its people will face terrible results if they chase my father. Fighting Americans is the basis for faith.’ 
 
 Home video: Films found at Osama Bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan show the terror leader obsessively watching videos of himself. He shared the specially-built compound with two other families 
 
 In 2005, when he was 15, he featured in a jihadist film shot in a Pakistani tribal area on the Afghan border. 
 
 He held a semi-automatic assault rifle and was said to have just taken part in a battle against Pakistani security forces. 
 
 His voice also appeared in a video released on the third anniversary of London's 7/7 bombings, calling for the destruction of the U.S., Britain, France and Denmark. 
 
 He declared: 'Oh God, reward the fighters. God, be pleased with those who want to go for jihad. Grant victory to the Taliban over the gangs of infidels.' 
 
 Hamza was also implicated in the murder of Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, who had named him as a leader of one of the Al Qaeda-linked groups of assassins planning to kill her. 
 
 
 
 REVEALED: DETAILS OF CRACK TEAM SENT TO FIND OSAMA BIN LADEN 
 
 Experts: A team of U.S. Navy SEALs went into the compound while two groups of specialists were on stand-by to deal with Bin Laden, dead or alive Senior military officials today revealed compelling details of the U.S. special forces team sent into Pakistan to find Osama Bin Laden. The entire assault team was big enough to fight its way out of the country if necessary, on President Obama's orders. There were also two teams of specialists on standby, to deal with Bin Laden dead or alive. The first team was ready to bury the terror leader if he was killed, and the second was made up of interrogators, lawyers and translators in case he was captured. They would have met Bin Laden and U.S. SEALs on board a Navy ship, probably the Carl Vinson in the Arabian Sea. 
 
 Speaking anonymously, officials told the New York Times the president reviewed plans for the raid about ten days in advance. He urged commanders to make sure they were taking enough troops to fight their way out if hostile Pakistani forces tried to oppose the operation - showing the lack of trust he placed in a close ally. 
 
 Originally, two helicopters were supposed to wait just over the border in Afghanistan in case they were needed - 90 minutes away from the compound. After Mr Obama's intervention, commanders decided to send two extra helicopters with more troops. They followed the two Black Hawk helicopters with the assault team on board. One of the back-up craft was used when one of the first was badly damaged as it landed. One senior officials told the Times: 'The president did not want to leave anything to chance. He wanted extra forces if they were necessary.' 
 
 
 
 ||||| One of Osama bin Laden's sons may have gone missing in the midst of the Navy SEAL raid that took the life of the al Qaeda leader more than a week ago, Pakistani security officials told ABC News today. 
 
 The officials said bin Laden's three wives, who are all in Pakistani custody, said that one of bin Laden's sons has not been seen since the raid. The son was not identified, but Pakistani investigators agreed that it appeared someone was missing from the sprawling compound, the officials said. 
 
 Later, however, one U.S. official said there was no evidence anyone was missing from the compound and Senator Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told CNN that in a recent briefing with the CIA there was no mention of a missing son. 
 
 U.S. officials said that one of bin Laden's sons, Khalid, was killed in the raid. It is not known if another son, Hamza, was in the compound at the time of the raid, though his mother is reportedly one of the wives in custody. The U.S. has previously denied the SEALs took anyone from the compound other than bin Laden's body. 
 
 The U.S. initially faced resistance from Pakistani authorities when investigators asked for access to bin Laden's widows, but a U.S. official said Monday Pakistani official promised to make the meeting happen sometime soon. One senior Pakistani security official told ABC News there is still no timeframe for that meeting, however. 
 
 READ: Pakistan to Give U.S. Access to Bin Laden Widows, Official Says 
 
 Bin Laden, who was married five times, is survived by at least 18 children. None of the sons, however, are in line to succeed their father for leadership of al Qaeda. 
 
 "Unlike a lot of Arab governments that are dynastic," said former White House counterterrorism advisor Richard Clarke, now an ABC News consultant, "al Qaeda has not been and his sons have never played a real operational role of any significance. They did not appear to be groomed for leadership roles in al Qaeda." ||||| Pakistani security officials believe a member of the bin Laden household has disappeared since the raid, further deepening the confusion about who was killed. 
 
 It is understood that three of bin Laden’s widows, currently in Pakistani custody, have told interrogators that one son has not been seen since the operation. 
 
 The fresh details raise fears that the al-Qaeda leader’s youngest son and closest confidant, Hamza, may have escaped capture. 
 
 The White House initially claimed that Hamza, 20, had been killed at the house in Abbottabad, about 30 miles from Islamabad. Officials later said his 22-year-old brother Khalid had been killed instead. 
 
 On Tuesday night an intelligence source in Islamabad told The Daily Telegraph that shifting accounts of what had happened, coupled with the widows’ testimony, left them unable to account for one person who they believe had been living at the house. 
 
 “We don’t know if it was his son. Someone, one person may have been in the compound that we now cannot account for if - we believe what we are being told,” he said. 
 
 Bin Laden, who was married five times, had as many as 24 children. 
 
 No-one knows for certain who was in the compound where bin Laden had lived, hidden in plain sight, for five years. 
 
 However, Hamza’s mother is believed to be among the family members in Pakistani custody. 
 
 Hamza, thought to be the youngest of the Saudi-born warlord's sons, has been described as the “crown prince of terror”. He featured on an extremist website to mark the third anniversary of the July 7 London bombings in which 52 people died. He read a poem called for “destruction” of America, Britain, France and Denmark. 
 
 Intelligence agencies believe he was being groomed as a possible future leader on al-Qaeda. 
 
 He was implicated in the assassination of moderate Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto in 2007.
– One of Osama bin Laden's sons may have escaped the raid by Navy SEALs, according to ABC News and British papers the Telegraph and Daily Mail. It seems more guesswork than anything at this point, though. Bin Laden's three widows have reportedly told Pakistani authorities that one son has not been seen since the raid. The best guess is that they're referring to bin Laden's youngest son, Hamza, thought to be around 19 or 20 and a close confidante of his father. His mother is one of the detained widows. Initial reports had him killed in the raid, but that might have been confusion over the killing of a different son, Khalid. In any event, Pakistani officials agree that someone appears to be missing. “We don’t know if it was his son," an unidentified source tells the Telegraph. "Someone, one person may have been in the compound that we now cannot account for if—we believe what we are being told."