Osama bin Laden, the former notorious head of the terrorist group al-Qaeda and mastermind of the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, was killed by American special forces in May of 2011 in Pakistan, where he had been hiding for years.
On Thursday, July 6th, it was revealed that bin Laden’s son Omar, who has been living in Northern France since 2021, has been indicted for glorifying terrorism after allegedly posting on social media, praising his father on the anniversary of his death on May 2nd, a report from Le Publicateur Libre states.
According to the newspaper, French security forces raided Omar bin Laden’s home in Domfront, Normandy as well as another area where Bin Laden exhibits his paintings.
The public prosecutor of Argentan refused to confirm or deny that the son of the notorious terrorist had been indicted but a source told the newspaper that Bin Laden had been indicted for his remarks.
The apparent indictment relates to a post on Twitter by an account that appeared to be Omar bin Laden, though it is not confirmed whether or not he is behind the account, which has since been deleted from the platform.
“History is written only with the blood of these people – to tell the story of those martyrs who made history, built nations and brought glory. Their blood is the lifeline of our faith until the Day of Judgment. Rest in peace,” the post stated.
Prior to the account being taken down, Arabic-language users blasted the comments with a Kuwaiti man saying. “Your father’s massacres and folly, which he called ‘jihad,’ gave the West a reason to oppress Muslims around the world. Look at how he destroyed Afghanistan.”
“The bloodshed he unleashed never ceased, and these are sins that he and his fellows will always bear. May you and your father get what you deserve,” the man added.
Omar bin Laden, meanwhile, has denied the allegations against him, calling it “false information” as investigators are still trying to determine if he was actually behind the account that praised his father.
The case comes as the French government has announced it has halted all repatriations of French Islamic State extremists from Syria after a total of 169 children and 57 adult women have been brought back to France since the programme began in 2019.
A diplomatic source claimed that some of the women in Syria simply do not wish to come home and noted that the French government was unable to repatriate those who did not wish to come back to France.
Marie Dosé, a lawyer for families of women and children held in the camps in northeastern Syria, stated, “There are still a hundred children in these camps who know only the mud, the barbed wire and the violence.”
She went on to add that France “has the means to impose the return of these children, who can well be taken with their mothers to Iraqi Kurdistan with a view to their expulsion to France, whether or not this return is accepted by these women.”
France is not the only country to bring back its nationals who travelled to Syria to join the Islamic State terrorist group. Sweden has also seen a number of Islamic State women return with their children, some of whom have also been investigated for war crimes.
