Laden niece poses for GQ magazine

GQ Magazine photo shows Wafah Dufour, the daughter of Osama bin Laden's half brother, posed for an article of GQ's January edition.. PHOTO: AP

Wafah Dufour is an aspiring New York-based musician who told the magazine that her family ties to the al-Qaeda leader suspected of masterminding the September 11, 2001 attacks have prompted death threats and sent her into a bout of depression.

As part of an effort to distance herself from her massive Saudi family, Dufour appears in a sultry GQ photo spread, reclining on satin sheets wrapped in feathers in one picture and posing in a bubble bath wearing nothing but jewellery in a second.

"I was born in the States and I want people to know I'm American, and I want people here to understand that I'm like anyone in New York. For me, it's home," said Dufour, who took her mother's name after the suicide hijacking attacks that destroyed Manhattan's World Trade Centre.