The son of slain al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has been banned from returning to France. Omar Bin Laden, 43, has been living in Normandy, France, where he has earned a living painting landscape portraits.
Who is Omar Bin Laden?
Born in Saudi Arabia, Omar Bin Laden is Osama’s fourth-oldest son. He left his father’s side in 2000 after training at jihadist camps in Afghanistan. He has previously lived in Sudan and Afghanistan and finally settled down in France in 2016.
Omar bin Laden is married to a British woman, Jane Felix-Browne, a grandmother who had been divorced five times previously and over two decades his senior, the marriage invited considerable media interest when it was confirmed in 2007.
After marriage Jane took on the Muslim name of Zaina Mohammed. Post the marriage Omar bin Laden sought to live in the UK, but his bid was rejected by the British authorities citing the reason that his arrival would cause considerable public concern in the country.
Concerns in France
New Interior Minister of France, Bruno Retailleau announced that he had signed an order barring Omar from returning to France, accusing him of authoring social media posts last year which “glorified terrorism”.
The minister said that the jihadist’s son “posted comments on his social networks in 2023 that advocated terrorism. As a result, the prefect of Orne issued an order to leave French territory,” Retailleau said.
“The courts have confirmed the legality of this decision taken in the interests of national security,” he added. The interior minister also said he had signed off on a ban preventing Omar bin Laden from returning to the country.
Omar Bin Laden left France in 2023 after his residency permit was revoked for two years by officials in the wake of the dangerous posts. There were speculations that the dispute was related to content regarding Osama’s death anniversary.
But Retailleau has now confirned that there have been orders passed to permanently bar Omar Bin Laden from returning to France “for any reason whatsoever”. Omar has now reportedly returned to Qatar after his expulsion from France.
Relationship with Osama
Omar has showcased complicated feelings towards Osama. His memoir, published in 2009, recalled growing up in often squalid conditions as his father sought to evade international intelligence agencies.
While he renounced his father’s acts of violence across the globe, he has also been accused by some of being an apologist for Osama’s actions, referring to him as a “kind man” man who had followed a strict religious and moral code.
Omar claims that his father was just trying to defend the Islamic world, and that his father was not a terrorist “because history tells you he’s not. My father is a very kind man.”
After Osama Bin Laden’s death in Pakistan in 2011, Omar Bin Laden claimed US special forces had “violated” international law by not allowing his father to have a proper burial. The terrorist leader was buried at sea and his remains were brought back to a US base in Afghanistan for identification.
Interior Minister Retailleau is one of the toughest members of the new government led by conservative Prime Minister Michel Barnier. He has taken a complete hands on approach especially in matters related to immigration and crime. After his appointment in September, Retailleau had vowed to lower immigration in a bid to fight political Islam.