Osama bin Laden’s son sent packing from France for fuelling terrorism
Omar bin Laden, the son of slain Al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, has been expelled from France by the country’s authorities over controversial posts on social deemed to have fuelled terrorism.
France’s new Interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, announced the decision on X on Tuesday, October 8, 2024.
Though he was born in Saudi Arabia where he spent his early years, the deceased Al Qaeda leader’s son has also lived in Sudan and Afghanistan. Now 43, the junior bin Laden left his father at age 19 and eventually settled in Normandy in Northern France in 2016, taking up painting.
Retailleau explained that bin Laden had lived in the department of Orne in Normandy as a spouse to a British woman.
The minister said that the jihadist’s son “posted comments on his social networks in 2023 that advocated terrorism,” per AFP.
“As a result, the prefect of Orne issued an order to leave French territory.
“The courts have confirmed the legality of this decision taken in the interests of national security,” he added.
Retailleau has vowed to restore ”order” on immigration and crime, insisting that “the rule of law is neither intangible nor sacred.”
Omar bin Laden banned from re-entering France
The minister also disclosed that he had signed off on a ban preventing Omar bin Laden “from returning to France for any reason whatsoever.”
However, he didn’t provide further details and it could not be established as of press time if bin Laden had already left the European country.
Omar’s marriage to his British spouse, Jane Felix-Browne, a grandmother who had been divorced five times previously and over two decades his senior, had been a topic of considerable media interest when it was confirmed in 2007.
After the marriage, Felix-Browne adopted the Muslim name of Zaina Mohammed. Her husband had sought to live in the UK but his request was rejected by the British authorities.
Osama, the son of a hugely wealthy Saudi construction magnate, is believed to have had some two dozen children.
The Al Qaeda founder was killed by the US special forces in a clandestine operation in Pakistan in 2011.
