RIYADH: Osama bin Laden’s son has been permanently banned from returning to his home in France because of social media posts advocating terrorism, the country’s interior minister said on Tuesday.
Bruno Retailleau barred Omar bin Laden, 43, from France after the judiciary confirmed a deportation order issued last year on grounds of national security.
Omar bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia, and has lived in Sudan and Afghanistan. He settled in Normandy in northern France with his British wife in 2018, and took up painting.
Comments that French officials say glorified “terrorism and Al-Qaeda” were published on social media in the name of Omar bin Laden in May 2023, on an account that has now been suspended. He was ordered to leave France five months later.
Pascal Martin, bin Laden’s artistic agent, said he now lived in Qatar and suffered from psychological problems. He has not been told of the barring order.
“He’s too fragile, if he finds out it’s going to hurt him a lot,” Martin said. “He’s had a difficult life. Being a son of Osama bin Laden has been an ordeal for him.”
Omar bin Laden separated from his father at the age of 19. US special forces killed the Al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan in 2011.
