Egypt denies entry to bin Laden's son

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-10 11:05

CAIRO, Egypt -- Egyptian authorities denied entry to one of Osama bin Laden's sons and put him on a plane to Qatar on Sunday, becoming the third country to reject the self-proclaimed "ambassador for peace," an airport security official said.

In this file photo dated Jan. 11, 2008, Omar Osama bin Laden, right, and his British-born wife Jane Felix-Brown, now known as Zaina Alsabah, speak during an interview with The Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt. Egyptian authorities denied entry to Omar Osama bin Laden and put him on a plane to Qatar on Sunday [Agencies]

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.

One of the al-Qaida leader's 19 children, Omar Osama bin Laden caused a tabloid storm last year after he married Zaina Alsabah, a British citizen.

Alsabah, 52, told the Associated Press after they arrived in the Gulf Arab country of Qatar that the two were looking to eventually move to bin Laden's native Saudi Arabia.

"We are staying here as long as it takes, we are working with the UN and the US embassy to help us getting back to Saudi Arabia," she said. "I was very surprised at the Egyptian government's stance."

Egyptian authorities at the airport denied the couple entry Sunday, sending them instead to Qatar, said a security official.

As a Saudi national, bin Laden automatically gets a six month residency in Egypt, but an airport security official said after his high profile decision to apply for asylum in Spain, he was no longer welcome. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Alsabah has said the couple applied for asylum in Spain because they had been threatened.

Spain's interior minister has confirmed that bin Laden's son was deported because his asylum application did not meet any Spanish requirements.

British authorities rejected his request for a residency visa there in May saying his presence would cause "public concern" due to statements he had made to the press. He has not renounced his father, but has said he wants to be an "ambassador for peace" between the Muslim world and the West.