Osama bin Laden's 17-year-old daughter, who has been under house arrest in Tehran for eight years with five siblings and a stepmother, has escaped from her guards and taken refuge in the Saudi Embassy, the Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reports.

The newspaper says Iman Bin Laden called her brother, Abdullah, in Syria to say they have been held by Iranian authorities since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan at the end of 2001.

Another brother, Omar Bin Laden, 29, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Bin Laden family had not known the whereabouts of the missing family members until Iman escaped a month ago.

Omar, who lives in Qatar, said Iman slipped away from guards taking her and her stepmother on a twice-a-year shopping trip.

He said the brothers and sisters being held ranged in age from 15 to 30 years.

The newspaper said a Saudi diplomat in Tehran confirmed the report about Iman's escape and said efforts were underway to get her out of the country.

Omar also said the news from Tehran refutes stories that one brother, 30-year-old Saad, had been involved in terrorist activities and had been killed 18 months ago by a missile attack from a U.S. drone. "I can confirm the opposite of this," he said.