Pakistan's interior minister, Rehman Malik, announced on Thursday that the three wives of the late Osama bin Laden had been charged with illegally entering and residing within Pakistan.

"They [the wives] were presented before the court. After that, they are on judicial remand, and are being kept in a proper, legal manner," Malik told reporters.

After the US special forces raid that ended with bin Laden's death in May 2011, Pakistani authorities had detained 16 people from the compound in Abottabad, including an undisclosed number of children.

"Cases have been registered against the adults, not the children," Malik clarified.

The three women are Amal al-Sadeh, a Yemeni citizen, and two Saudis identified as Umm-e-Khalid and Umm-e-Hamza.

sjt/ncy (Reuters,dpa)