A son of the late al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden has been banned from returning to France, the nation’s inside minister has introduced.
Omar Bin Laden, 43, has spent years residing in Normandy within the north of France, the place he has earned a residing portray panorama portraits.
However new Inside Minister Bruno Retailleau mentioned he signed an order barring him from returning to France, accusing him of authoring social media posts final yr which “glorified terrorism”.
Mr Bin Laden left France in 2023 after his residency allow was revoked for 2 years by officers within the wake of the posts. French media reported that the dispute associated to content material marking the anniversary of his father’s loss of life.
Mr Bin Laden has lived in France since 2016, incomes a residency allow via his marriage to UK citizen Zaina Mohamed Al-Sabah – born Jane Felix-Browne.
However Retailleau mentioned the order now completely banned Mr Bin Laden from returning to France “for any cause in any respect”. He reportedly returned to Qatar after his expulsion from France, the place he had beforehand lived together with his spouse.
Born in Saudi Arabia, Mr Bin Laden is the al-Qaeda chief’s fourth-oldest son. He left his father’s facet in 2000 after coaching at jihadist camps in Afghanistan, telling father that he didn’t wish to be related to the killing of civilians.
He retained complicated emotions in direction of the elder Bin Laden over the next years. His memoir, printed in 2009, recalled rising up in usually squalid situations as his father sought to evade worldwide intelligence businesses.
Whereas he renounced his father’s acts of violence throughout the globe, he has additionally been accused by a few of being an apologist for Osama’s actions, referring to him as a “variety” man who had adopted a strict non secular and ethical code.
After Osama Bin Laden’s loss of life in Pakistan in 2011, Omar Bin Laden claimed US particular forces had “violated worldwide legislation” by not permitting his father to have a correct burial. The Al-Qaeda chief was buried at sea after his stays have been introduced again to a US base in Afghanistan for identification.
Nonetheless, buddies have been fast to sentence his ban from getting into France on Tuesday. Pascal Martin, who helped Mr Bin Laden promote his work, advised the Reuters information company that he had completely renounced radical Islamism.
“We grew to become buddies and I can inform you that nothing that’s being mentioned resembles the Omar I do know,” he advised the outlet.
Inside Minister Retailleau has a status as one of the right-wing members of the brand new authorities led by conservative Prime Minister Michel Barnier.
After his appointment in August, he vowed to decrease immigration in a bid to “battle political Islam”. Critics mentioned Retailleau’s instalment on the inside ministry was a transparent instance of the “reactionary proper taking energy”.