Spain rejected on Wednesday a request by Osama bin Laden’s son Omar for political asylum, months after he was refused permission to live in England with his British wife, the government and the couple said.
The petition was turned down “on the grounds of insufficient evidence of danger or threat to his life,” Omar and his wife Zaina Alsabah bin Laden said in a statement, adding they had begun the process to appeal the decision.
“As you know, we are having a very difficult time finding a country who will accept Omar, only because of his family name. This is unfair. Omar is not his father,” the statement said.
The 28-year-old, who has urged his father to give up violence, had argued that his life was threatened in the Middle East because of his pacifist positions.
He made the asylum request on Monday immediately after he arrived at Madrid’s Barajas airport on an Egypt Air flight from Cairo, where he currently lives with his 52-year-old wife, formerly known as Jane Felix-Browne. The couple were married in 2006.
A Spanish interior ministry spokesman said the decision to turn down the asylum request met the rules of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
“He was notified of the decision early this afternoon,” he said.
In April British authorities turned down a request from Omar, a former scrap metal merchant, for a settlement visa.
At the time he said he wanted to live in England with Zaina at her home in the village of Moulton, near Northwich in Cheshire.
The British embassy in Cairo said it had based its decision on fears that his presence in the country would cause “considerable public concern.”
While he has condemned violent acts in several media interviews, Omar has been criticized for declining to directly condemn his father.
“Those who know the Arab culture understand that sons are not allowed to publicly attack their fathers. This is cultural. This does not mean that Omar agrees with his father’s activities. He does not,” the statement issued by Omar and his wife said.
“Only those who truly know the Arab culture will realize Omar’s bravery in taking a stance for peace against his father,” it said.
Saudi-born Omar is the fourth of 11 children born to his father’s first wife, and he is one of 19 children Osama bin Laden has fathered.
He made headlines in January when he urged his father to renounce violence in an interview broadcast on CNN.
In their statement, the couple stressed that their decision to leave Egypt “had nothing to do with any actions of the Egyptian government,” which they thanked for allowing Omar to live in Cairo.
“There were outsiders working within Egypt which created genuine concern for Omar’s safety. That is the only reason we left Egypt,” the statement said.
In 2004 Spain suffered one of Europe’s deadliest attacks when bombs planted by Islamic extremists inspired by al-Qaeda and angered by the country’s participation in the US-led invasion of Iraq exploded on packed commuter trains in Madrid, killing 191 people.
STEPPING UP: Diminished US polar science presence mean opportunities for the UK and other countries, although China or Russia might also fill that gap, a researcher said The UK’s flagship polar research vessel is to head to Antarctica next week to help advance dozens of climate change-linked science projects, as Western nations spearhead studies there while the US withdraws. The RRS Sir David Attenborough, a state-of-the-art ship named after the renowned British naturalist, would aid research on everything from “hunting underwater tsunamis” to tracking glacier melt and whale populations. Operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the country’s polar research institute, the 15,000-tonne icebreaker — boasting a helipad, and various laboratories and gadgetry — is pivotal to the UK’s efforts to assess climate change’s impact there. “The saying goes
FRUSTRATIONS: One in seven youths in China and Indonesia are unemployed, and many in the region are stuck in low-productivity jobs, the World Bank said Young people across Asia are struggling to find good jobs, with many stuck in low-productivity work that the World Bank said could strain social stability as frustrations fuel a global wave of youth-led protests. The bank highlighted a persistent gap between younger and more experienced workers across several Asian economies in a regional economic update released yesterday, noting that one in seven young people in China and Indonesia are unemployed. The share of people now vulnerable to falling into poverty is now larger than the middle class in most countries, it said. “The employment rate is generally high, but the young struggle to
ENERGY SHIFT: A report by Ember suggests it is possible for the world to wean off polluting sources of power, such as coal and gas, even as demand for electricity surges Worldwide solar and wind power generation has outpaced electricity demand this year, and for the first time on record, renewable energies combined generated more power than coal, a new analysis said. Global solar generation grew by a record 31 percent in the first half of the year, while wind generation grew 7.7 percent, according to the report by the energy think tank Ember, which was released after midnight yesterday. Solar and wind generation combined grew by more than 400 terawatt hours, which was more than the increase in overall global demand during the same period, it said. The findings suggest it is
FIRST STAGE: Hamas has agreed to release 48 Israeli hostages in exchange for 250 ‘national security prisoners’ as well as 1,700 Gazans, but has resisted calls to disarm Israel plans to destroy what remains of Hamas’ network of tunnels under Gaza, working with US approval after its hostages are freed, it said yesterday. Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz said that the operation would be conducted under an “international mechanism” led by the US. “Israel’s great challenge after the hostage release phase will be the destruction of all Hamas terrorist tunnels in Gaza,” Katz said. “I have ordered the army to prepare to carry out this mission,” he added. Hamas operates a network of tunnels under Gaza, allowing its fighters to operate out of sight of Israeli reconnaissance. Some have passed under
RSS