FRANKFURT: A Tunisian man who allegedly served as a bodyguard to Osama bin Laden was detained in Germany on Monday and is to be deported, officials said.
The 41-year-old, identified as Sami A., has lived in Germany for about two decades, but outrage over his presence has grown in recent months as the mood hardens toward rejected asylum seekers.
Sami A. had previously successfully argued against his deportation, saying he risked being tortured in his homeland.
But Germany’s Federal Office for Migration reversed that decision on Monday, following a public outcry over the case and an intervention from Interior Minister Horst Seehofer.
“Finally, he’s going to be deported!” headlined the best-selling daily Bild, which broke the news.
A spokesman for Bochum city hall in western Germany confirmed to AFP that Sami A. was being held pending deportation.
The Tunisian, who arrived in Germany in 1997, was taken into custody when he reported for his daily visit to a Bochum police station.
Considered a security threat over his suspected ties to Islamist groups, Sami A. has for years had to report to police but was never charged with an offense.
He has always denied being the former bodyguard of late Al-Qaeda leader bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
Judges in a 2015 terror case in Muenster however said they believed Sami A. underwent military training at an Al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan in 1999 and 2000 and belonged to bin Laden’s team of guards.
German authorities first rejected Sami A.’s asylum request in 2007 but prosecutors’ efforts to expel him were repeatedly blocked by courts citing the danger of torture in Tunisia.
An unrelated court ruling last month involving another Tunisian man — accused over a 2015 attack on Tunis’ Bardo museum — helped pave the way for Sami A.’s expulsion.
In that instance, German judges found that the accused did not face the threat of the death penalty as Tunis has had a moratorium on implementing capital punishment since 1991.
Germany’s hard-line interior minister seized on the precedent to say he hoped Sami A. would be next, calling on migration officers to make the case “a priority.”
The Bild newspaper has led a vocal campaign against Sami A.’s presence in Germany, with revelations that he collects nearly 1,200 euros ($1,400) a month in welfare sparking particular outrage.
Sami A. has a wife and children who are German citizens.
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Germany to deport ‘bin Laden bodyguard’ to Tunisia
Germany to deport ‘bin Laden bodyguard’ to Tunisia
- Sami A. has lived in Germany for about two decades, but outrage over his presence has grown in recent months
- He had previously successfully argued against his deportation, saying he risked being tortured
India’s prime minister says it has reached a free trade deal with the EU
- It touches a whopping 2 billion people and is one of the biggest bilateral engagements on commerce
- The timing comes as Washington targets both India and the EU with steep import tariffs
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday that India and the European Union have reached a free trade agreement to deepen their economic and strategic ties.
The accord, which touches a whopping 2 billion people, was concluded after nearly two decades of negotiations. It was dubbed the “mother of all deals” by both sides.
It is one of the biggest bilateral engagements on commerce. The timing comes as Washington targets both India and the EU with steep import tariffs.
“This agreement will bring major opportunities for the people of India and Europe. It represents 25 percent of the global GDP and one-third of global trade,” Modi said while virtually addressing an energy conference.
The deal comes at a time when Washington is targeting both India and the EU with steep tariffs, disrupting established trade flows and pushing major economies to seek alternate partnerships.
Modi was scheduled to meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later Tuesday to jointly announce the agreement.
India has stepped up efforts to diversify its export destinations as part of a broader strategy to offset the impact of higher US tariffs.
The tariffs include an extra 25 percent levy on Indian goods for its unabated purchases of discounted Russian oil, bringing the combined tariffs imposed by the United States on its ally to 50 percent.
The deal gives the EU expanded access to one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies, helping European exporters and investors to reduce their reliance on more volatile markets.
Bilateral trade between India and EU stood at $136.5 billion in 2024-25. The two sides hope to increase that to about $200 billion by 2030, India’s Trade Ministry officials said.
“Ultimately, the agreement is about creating a stable commercial corridor between two major markets at a time the global trading system is fragmenting,” said Indian trade analyst Ajay Srivastava.
The EU is still reeling from the aggressive approach of its once-stalwart ally across the Atlantic. There’s a widespread sense of betrayal across the 27-nation bloc from US President Donald Trump’s onslaught of higher tariffs, embrace of far-right parties, and belligerence over Greenland.
Brussels has accelerated its outreach to markets around the world: Over the past year, von der Leyen has signed deals with Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, and South America under the catchphrase “strategic autonomy,” which in practice is akin to decoupling from a US seen by most European leaders as erratic.
“We are showing a fractured world that another way is possible,” she posted on X after arriving in India on Sunday.
The accord, which touches a whopping 2 billion people, was concluded after nearly two decades of negotiations. It was dubbed the “mother of all deals” by both sides.
It is one of the biggest bilateral engagements on commerce. The timing comes as Washington targets both India and the EU with steep import tariffs.
“This agreement will bring major opportunities for the people of India and Europe. It represents 25 percent of the global GDP and one-third of global trade,” Modi said while virtually addressing an energy conference.
The deal comes at a time when Washington is targeting both India and the EU with steep tariffs, disrupting established trade flows and pushing major economies to seek alternate partnerships.
Modi was scheduled to meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later Tuesday to jointly announce the agreement.
India has stepped up efforts to diversify its export destinations as part of a broader strategy to offset the impact of higher US tariffs.
The tariffs include an extra 25 percent levy on Indian goods for its unabated purchases of discounted Russian oil, bringing the combined tariffs imposed by the United States on its ally to 50 percent.
The deal gives the EU expanded access to one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies, helping European exporters and investors to reduce their reliance on more volatile markets.
Bilateral trade between India and EU stood at $136.5 billion in 2024-25. The two sides hope to increase that to about $200 billion by 2030, India’s Trade Ministry officials said.
“Ultimately, the agreement is about creating a stable commercial corridor between two major markets at a time the global trading system is fragmenting,” said Indian trade analyst Ajay Srivastava.
The EU is still reeling from the aggressive approach of its once-stalwart ally across the Atlantic. There’s a widespread sense of betrayal across the 27-nation bloc from US President Donald Trump’s onslaught of higher tariffs, embrace of far-right parties, and belligerence over Greenland.
Brussels has accelerated its outreach to markets around the world: Over the past year, von der Leyen has signed deals with Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, and South America under the catchphrase “strategic autonomy,” which in practice is akin to decoupling from a US seen by most European leaders as erratic.
“We are showing a fractured world that another way is possible,” she posted on X after arriving in India on Sunday.
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