Week of Family Follies, From bin Laden to Bhutto

This week, the descendants of several world figures turned up in the headlines facing challenges of varying levels of seriousness. Here’s a quick round-up.

THURSDAY: Bin Laden’s Son

In an interview with The Associated Press today, Omar Osama bin Laden seemed to be defeated by his father at every turn.

He wants to be a peacemaker, but The A.P. quickly observes that “many may have a hard time getting their mind around the idea.”

He says peace between the West and Al Qaeda is possible, but his father sings a much different tune in his recent videos. (Not that there are any truce talks out West).

When he got married in April, his bride was mocked in a British newspaper as the “granny who married Osama bin Laden’s son.” She’s 52, he’s 26.

Even his biggest dream seems to be dimmed by his father, or at least the terrorists inspired by him in Africa.

In an effort to build support for a 3,000-mile horse race across North Africa, he’s billing it as “an equine version of the famous Paris-Dakar car rally,” The A.P. said.

Unfortunately, the outlook for that particular race is grim at the moment after it was canceled due to safety concerns.

And who was making it unsafe? A North African affiliate of Al Qaeda.

WEDNESDAY: Descendents of Gandhi’s Son

The problem at the center at this next one is many years older than the first one, but it will probably be resolved sooner.

As India mourned the assassination of Gandhi in 1948, his eldest son, Harilal, failed to scatter ashes as custom required. Their relationship was famously tortured and he “either boycotted the ceremony or arrived too late to perform his filial duties,” The London Times wrote.

After acquiring an urn of Gandhi’s ashes from a museum, the Gandhi family has “decided to give Harilal’s descendants the opportunity they never got,” Reuters said. On Jan. 30, the 60th anniversary of Gandhi’s death, they plan to perform the ritual at the Arabian Sea.

TUESDAY: Sarkozy’s Son

The 10-year-old son of President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Louis, received death threats over the telephone earlier this month. The two suspects arrested, men in their early 20’s, face five years in prison, reports said.

And how do you get a world leader’s youngest son on the phone? The Associated Press cited an French report for details:

One of the suspects, an employee of French cellphone operator Orange, obtained a copy of the company’s celebrity client list, which gave Cecilia Sarkozy’s number. He passed the number on to a friend, a firefighter, who spoke to Louis Sarkozy on several occasions.

MONDAY: Bhutto’s Niece

Amid the continuing coverage of her aunt’s assassination in Pakistan, The Times of India reported on Fatima Bhutto’s e-mail issues.

Some overzealous fans of her Pakistani newspaper column, which always ends with her contact info, have been sending a ton of “bizzarro” requests lately:

“Could I have your cell number so we can discuss this further?” wrote one of her dedicated readers. “Seriously though, if you won’t give me your cell number, could we at least make friendship?” wrote another.

So far, there’s no sign that anything bizarro is happening to her on Facebook, unlike her cousin Bilawal.

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