Bin Laden's relative 'murdered'

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A brother-in-law of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has been killed in a robbery in Madagascar, relatives say.

Jamal Khalifa was shot dead when a group of at least 20 armed men attacked his house and stole his belongings, his brother said from Saudi Arabia.

Mr Khalifa mined and traded precious stones on the Indian Ocean island and had denied media speculation that he helped to fund al-Qaeda activities.

The US accuses Bin Laden of masterminding the 9/11 suicide attacks.

Bin Laden has been disowned by his family in his native Saudi Arabia.

Mr Khalifa's brother Malek Khalifa said details of the incident were still sketchy, Reuters news agency reports.

"I don't think it was politically motivated," he told Al Arabiya television.

The al-Qaeda network is accused of links to radical groups in various parts of the world.