The son of Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden has been deported from France, where he had lived for several years painting landscapes in a Normandy village.
He has also been banned from returning after posting comments on social media that were deemed to glorify terrorism.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau confirmed that he signed an order preventing Omar Bin Laden from re-entering France.
While he did not provide specific details about the deportation or Bin Laden’s current location, he noted that Bin Laden had previously been deported.
“Mr. Bin Laden, who lived in the Orne region for several years as the partner of a British national, posted comments on his social media accounts in 2023 that glorified terrorism,” Retailleau stated on X. “The administrative ban ensures that Mr. Bin Laden cannot return to France for any reason.”
Bin Laden was unavailable for immediate comment.
According to local weekly Le Publicateur Libre, French authorities became concerned over a social media post he made on the anniversary of his father’s death, who was killed by U.S. forces in 2011. The specific content of the post has not been located by Reuters.
In July 2023, the newspaper reported that police had been searching for Bin Laden in the village of Domfort, Normandy.
