Bin Laden's son not allowed into Egypt

Omar Osama bin Laden and his British wife arrive at Cairo International Airport after unsuccessfully trying to seek political asylum in Spain.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
omar osama bin laden son 248 88 ap (photo credit: AP [file])
omar osama bin laden son 248 88 ap
(photo credit: AP [file])
Egyptian authorities put one of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's son on a plane to Qatar on Sunday after denying him entry into the country, a security official at Cairo's airport said. Omar Osama bin Laden, 27, and his British wife arrived at Cairo International Airport over the weekend after he unsuccessfully tried to seek political asylum in Spain, claiming he would not be safe if he returned to an Arab country. The couple had lived in Egypt for the past year. Egyptian authorities at the airport decided to deny them entry and instead sent them to the Gulf Arab country of Qatar, said the security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information to the media. It was not known why Egypt denied them entry. There was no immediate comment from Qatar authorities, and it was not known whether they would be granted entry once they arrived there. It also was unclear why the two had not tried to go to Britain, because the younger bin Laden's wife, Zaina Alsabah, is a British citizen. Alsabah, 52, has said that the couple applied for asylum in Spain because their residency permits in Cairo were not renewed and they had been threatened. Spain's interior minister has confirmed that bin Laden's son was deported because he asylum application did not meet any Spanish requirements. Omar Osama bin Laden - one of the al-Qaida leader's 19 children - caused a tabloid storm last year after he married Alsabah. He has not renounced his father, but has said he wants to be an "ambassador for peace" between the Muslim world and the West.