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Spain Says No

DPA news agency (sac)November 6, 2008

The son of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has failed in his attempts to get political asylum in Spain. His efforts came just months after he was refused permission to live in England with his British wife.

https://p.dw.com/p/FoSw
Omar bin Laden and his British wife Jane Felix-Brown ride horses at the site of the Giza Pyramids in Cairo
Omar bin Laden, seen here with his wife, says he wants to be an "ambassador for peace"Image: AP

The Spanish Interior Ministry has rejected a request for political asylum by Omar bin Laden, one of the 19 children of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, media reported Thursday, Nov. 6.

The 27-year-old son of Osama bin Laden had argued that he did not feel safe in any Arab country.

Spain based its rejection partly on a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Interior Ministry sources were quoted as saying.

Bin Laden can appeal the decision, following which Spain would reconsider his case within two days. If the ministry then made another negative decision and the UNHCR issued another unfavorable report, bin Laden would be expelled immediately.

Omar bin Laden, who has publicly urged his father to abandon terrorism, was being held at Madrid airport. He arrived on flight from Cairo to Casablanca, which made a stopover in Madrid on Monday.

In April, Britain denied a visa to bin Laden, who is married to a British citizen.

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