Mr and Mrs Bin Laden: Rockers in Rome hoping for peace and a meeting with the Pope

No, not a couple of ageing rockers. This is Osama bin Laden's son and his British wife on their self-proclaimed mission to promote world peace.

Omar bin Laden, who at 27 is barely half the age of six-times-married Cheshire grandmother Jane Felix-Browne, looked ill at ease as they took in the tourist sights.

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After having their photograph taken at the Colosseum and shopping at designer boutiques, the unlikely couple were interviewed on Italian television about their role as "peace ambassadors".

Omar, who claims to have had no contact with his infamous father since before the September 11 attacks, believes the Al Qaeda chief is still alive.

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"I do not believe my father is dead, otherwise I would have known it - the world would have known it," he said.

A practising Muslim, he also spoke of his desire to meet Pope Benedict XVI. "But I have been told that it is not easy."

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There was astonishment last summer when it emerged that 52-year-old Mrs Felix-Browne, who has changed her name to Zaina Al Sabah bin Laden and converted to Islam, had married Omar, one of Osama's 19 sons.

The former parish councillor, whose five ex-husbands have included a member of biker gang Satan's Slaves and an RAC patrolman, has three sons of her own, the youngest the same age as Omar.

They met on holiday in Egypt and, after death threats which led to reports of a short-lived divorce, now claim to be making arrangements to live as man and wife in Mrs Felix-Browne's detached home in the Cheshire village of Moulton.

The couple have applied for a marriage visa to enable them to settle in Britain.

The Italy trip is thought to be their first to Europe together. In an interview last week, the couple told of their plan to ride from Egypt to Morocco on horseback to raise awareness of their peace mission.

"We need support and help," Omar said. "All the different religions and nationalities. Any man who wants to help, we will tell him 'You are welcome to join us' and 'Let us think about how we can help the world'.

"We want to stop the bombings everywhere in the world and the fighting on every side and to think, to find a new solution."

His wife added: "This is the message he has been spreading. He's an ambassador for peace - we both are. If we can help save one civilian life through what we're doing, it will be worth it."