France bans Osama bin Laden’s son from returning to country

By Nur Asena Erturk

France on Tuesday banned the son of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden from returning to the country.

Omar Bin Laden, who has been living in the northwestern department of Orne as the spouse of a British citizen for several years, made statements on social media in 2023 that “were glorifying terrorism,” Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on X.

Bin Laden was then expelled, and the decision was approved by the French justice for “national security,” Retailleau explained.

The minister announced an "administrative ban from the territory," and said his decision "ensures the impossibility" for Bin Laden to return to France "for any reason whatsoever."

Omar Bin Laden, 43, settled in Orne in 2016 as a painting artist, according to the French daily Ouest-France. He voluntarily left France in 2023 after receiving an expulsion notification and went to Qatar, Ouest-France quoted the prefecture of Orne as saying.

Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a night raid in Pakistan in 2011 by US forces. He helped plan the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which killed nearly 3,000 Americans.