France deports Osama Bin Laden’s son from Normandy village

France’s Interior Minister announced Omar bin Laden had been deported from a Normandy village he was living in after he was accused of glorifying terrorism on social media.

In a post shared on X early Tuesday morning, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau accused Omar bin Laden of “posting comments on his social media accounts in 2023, which made an apology for terrorism”.

Calling the matter “a decision of national security”, the post did not detail when exactly Omar bin Laden had been deported nor reveal where he was sent to.

The administrative ban ensures that Mr. bin Laden cannot return to France, for any reason whatsoever,” Retailleau said.

These additional measures reinforce another decision made by the Prefect of Orne — the French department where bin Laden resided — to expel him from France.

However, French newspaper Le Parisien reports that Omar bin Laden is now living in Qatar. The publication added that bin Laden had launched an appeal against his deportation, which was denied by French justice on Friday.

Bin Laden had been living in Normandy with his wife — a woman identified as a UK national — since 2016. According to the local press, the pair regularly travelled between the UK and France.

Retailleau’s decision comes as he is set to meet Tuesday with 21 prefects, each responsible for a different French département, to discuss immigration. The talks will focus more specifically on how to deal more efficiently with the legal measure called “obligation to leave French territory,” or OQTF, which is primarily used to deport foreign nationals.

The murder of a 19-year-old student, Philippine, who was raped in an affluent neighbourhood of Paris in late September, has inflamed the debate around the use of the OQTF measure in France. The alleged perpetrator — a 22-year-old Moroccan man — was already subject to an OQTF following a conviction for rape in 2021.

Bin Laden: ‘A person managed to get my Twitter password’

According to local newspaper Le Publicateur Libre, a controversial tweet was posted by bin Laden on 2 May 2023, the date of his father’s birthday.

The post from the now-deleted account @omarbinladin1 read: “History is written only with the blood of these people — to tell the story of these martyrs who made history, built nations and brought glory. Their blood is the lifeline of our faith until judgment day. Rest in peace.”

Investigative journalists questioned bin Laden about the matter in an award-winning podcast, “Hechos Reales,” or True Facts.

“A person from another country managed to get the password of my Twitter account and posted a Tweet using my name. They were not my words. I reported the Tweet to Twitter and after a week or so, the account was thankfully blocked,” bin Laden said.

“I no longer have access to my Twitter account,” he added, “so I was unable to remove it myself. I want to tell people I condemn terrorism and violence with all my heart”, he added.

The terrorist’s son-turned-painter

Omar is the son of Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born founder of the al-Qaeda terrorist group and the mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which killed almost 3,000 people in the biggest terror attacks un US soil in 2001.

Reports suggest the Saudi-born extremist had 24 children, although there is speculation about the exact figure.

During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, bin Laden turned to painting, selling his artwork for €800 to €2000. He even told local newspaper Le Publicateur Libre that he had plans to open a restaurant.

Omar Bin Laden is the grandson of Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, the founder of one of the wealthiest non-royal families in Saudi Arabia. When his father, Osama bin Laden was expelled from Saudi Arabia in 1991, Omar moved with him to Sudan and Afghanistan.

Although Omar bin Laden began training in al-Qaeda camps at the age of 14, he left the terrorist organisation in 2000. In a 2008 interview with ABC News, he said, “my father is very kind man… and he was very sorry when he did something like 11 September.”

“He believed if he brought two buildings down, maybe some people, few would die… But millions other would (be) save(d). He believed that”, Omar added.

Omar bin Laden went on to assert that he did not agree with his father’s actions “I believe what he did was wrong.”

Back in July of last year, authorities staged an intervention in Omar bin Laden’s home, as well as in another location in the medieval town of Domfront, according to local outlets.

At the time, an anonymous source involved in the investigation said that “Omar bin Laden was put under investigation for glorifying terrorism but was released once this process was completed.”

When questioned by the newspaper the following day, bin Laden claimed rumours circulating about him “false information”.