Zaina bin Laden married Omar bin Laden in 2006 and then moved with him to France ten years later. Everything was going perfectly well until July 6, 2023. That day, in the early morning, the GIGN burst into the couple’s house in Domfront-en-Poiraie, in Normandy. “The gendarmes arrived around 7 a.m., they pointed their weapons at me! At 69 years old, I can tell you that it is very impressive to have a rifle on your chest! I had never experienced that,” says the almost septuagenarian, still shaken by this intervention, more than a year later.
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The target? Her husband, Omar, fourth son of Osama bin Laden, with whom he had severed all ties since the end of the 1990s. He is accused of a tweet published two months earlier, on May 2, 2023, with the account @omarbinladin1, in which the author pays tribute to the former leader of Al-Qaeda. Problem, the author in question would not be the real Omar bin Laden, immediately indicates the one who became a painter, but an individual using his identity from Yemen.
In Domfront-en-Poiraie, this July 6, 2023, the unrest quickly subsides, even leaving a feeling of doubt, according to Zaina. “The police kept saying it was all very weird! They didn’t even search the house, they didn’t look for anything. The only thing they did was take Omar away. »
In Omar bin Laden’s passport, no trace of a visit to Yemen
In the calm, he then grabs some things and his medicine. Prone to frequent panic attacks, he was prescribed Xanax to treat “significant mental health issues,” according to his wife. He put up no resistance when the handcuffs were put on him and he left for the Caen police station to be questioned.
“There, he was able to explain himself and even communicated the name of the guy who tweeted from Yemen, specifying that he had never met him in his life. Myself, when I joined him, I brought his passport to the investigators which proved that he had never been to Yemen. I also showed them exchanges that we had with this individual via messages and in which he took full responsibility for his tweet, said that he had done it without Omar’s authorization and that he was not there. for nothing. Four or five hours later, Omar was able to come out. The police told him he could go home, they even shook hands, and that was it. They took no photos or fingerprints. »
Left free, Omar bin Laden, 43 years old today, was however indicted for “apology of terrorism” then placed under obligation to leave French territory (OQTF), in October 2023. “The judge does not was not convinced by his explanations, say those close to the Minister of the Interior. He failed to prove the steps taken to cancel this famous account. »
However, the bin Laden couple would not have spared their efforts in this matter. “When the famous tweet came out, Omar asked its author by message to remove it immediately, which he did not do,” retorts Zaina. We contacted Twitter, but they refused to block this account because it was not linked to Omar’s email address. »
A ghost OQTF?
The fact remains that this OQTF would never have been notified to the person concerned, to the point that the painter, who has held a valid residence permit for several years and who has maintained ties to Qatar, has since made several trips without encountering the slightest difficulty during his returns to France. “He wasn’t even aware that he had this obligation,” assures one of his relatives. He would never have taken the risk of leaving France otherwise. »
It would therefore be in complete naivety that Omar bin Laden once again flew to Doha at the very beginning of the year, planning to return to Normandy within a few weeks. Except that Bruno Retailleau decided otherwise, to the great dismay of Zaina. “Omar has never done anything wrong, he has no sympathy for terrorists. He left Afghanistan and his father when he was 18, and throughout his life he was persecuted because of his name. » His lawyer, who did not wish to appear publicly, is expected to file an appeal in the coming days.
