Bin Laden Son Seeks Asylum in Spain

[Newsjock]

Source: New York Times

MADRID — One of Osama bin Laden’s sons, who made headlines last year when he married a British woman, is seeking asylum in Spain, the government said Tuesday.

Omar Osama bin Laden, 27, arrived at Madrid’s Barajas International Airport on Monday on a flight from Cairo bound for Casablanca, Morocco, a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry said.

The spokeswoman said Mr. bin Laden was traveling on a Saudi passport and was being held at the airport in a special center for asylum seekers. Under Spanish law, the government had 72 hours to decide whether to allow him to stay, she said.

... It was not immediately clear on what grounds Mr. bin Laden, a self-declared pacifist who is the son of the founder of Al Qaeda and his first wife, Najwa Ghanem, was basing his claim.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/world/europe/05spain.html

[ohio2007]

1. Is Saudi Arabia not up to his Asylum standards ? nt

[Taverner]

2. Is that the guy who was in GQ?

I say give it to him - any any other free thinkers who want to leave repressive religious cultures.

Better yet, bring him here - and we could suck the talent right out of the crazies.

[uppityperson]

3. I feel bad for people whose parents are nasty people.

[pitohui]

4. as do i

if the young man is sincere and wants only to live his life in peace, i hope he gets his wish

[Obamarama]

5. Well, the first thing I'd do if I were him is change my name.

That's kind of a no-brainer, with a name like that,

[zelta gaisma]

6. Oh yeah! Want to live in a Spanish speaking country? Jose Fuentes

[pitohui]

7. like the gov't of spain is too dim to figure out who THIS "jose fuentes" is?

his name is not the issue, i'm sure when he's clubbing he already has an alternative name to share w. the girls

when you change your name "officially," you have to provide a reason and the original name, and it's on record

so you're talking at cross purposes

right now changing his name only makes him look more suspicious

let him get residency or even citizenship in a more friendly place and THEN let him work on an official name change

just my opinion as someone who has literally used over 100 names in a previous century

my choice ultimately was that my birth name is the story of my life in a few syllables and fuck those who don't get it, this may or may not be his choice as well

[zelta gaisma]

10. I didn't mean

try to hide who he is from the officials. I meant if it were me and I disagreed with daddy dearest I sure as shit wouldn't want to carry his name. If that makes it clearer

[pitohui]

15. ok there's something to be said for that

but i think if everyone who disagreed w. their father changed their last name then we'd have a lot of names getting changed, the world being what it is

plus it's an additional layer of explanation when you meet somebody new, like being half in/half out of the closet, does this person "know," does that person "know," would this person treat me the same if they "knew," will they feel tricked and deceived when they find out...

it's difficult either way, and the deep difficulty is not the name but the relationship itself

he can change the name but the fact of his relationship remains the same

another example, i met a young woman who is in the usa illegally and can't leave the us again (because she can't re-enter) but can't normalize her immigration status, just keeps getting appointments and denials and appointments and denials -- not because of anything she has done, but because her father was a general in laos on the other side -- it isn't her name that's the trouble, but under any name, her father whether she likes it or not, wants to escape him or not -- in the eyes of the usa gov't and in the eyes of biology, it's still her father

:shrug:

[zelta gaisma]

18. I guess I was just

thinking of changing his name as a way to symbolically distance himself from his father and what his father stands for.

[JAbuchan08]

9. couldn't disagree more completely

why give up like that? I suppose Barak should change his middle name too?

How easily some people fall for the most simplistic thinking.

I'm tempted to shout, but I won't

[Obamarama]

11. I suppose you'd be happy to keep your last name if it were say...Hitler?

Give me a fucking break.

And, the name Osama bin Laden isn't quite the same as Barack.

It's not simplistic thinking. It's self preservation, not to mention common sense.

[JAbuchan08]

12. I meant Hussein... Dude.

[Obamarama]

13. Same difference. Hussein still isn't the same as Osama bin Laden when it comes to names.

You're probably referring to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in your logic.

There was also former Jordanian King Hussein (deceased), who was well respected and a friend of the US. There's absolutely nothing about Barack's middle name he should be worried about changing.

But, this offspring of Osama bin Laden...you can't tell my you actually think he shouldn't change his name? Whatever...

[JAbuchan08]

14. Indeed, whatever....

I guess I'm one of those strident people who thinks that one should not back down in the face of other peoples idiocy. Silly me.

[jmondine]

8. McCain says we should go down to Central America and get him

[pitohui]

16. update: he has been refused the right of asylum

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081105/ap_on_re_eu/eu_spain_bin_laden_son

sounds like he has been living in cairo and will have to return there

he married a much older british woman, presumably for residency, but has already been denied u.k. residency

[struggle4progress]

17. Bin Laden son loses asylum plea (CNN)

... The Interior Ministry, which had 72 hours to reply to the request, was required to seek the opinion of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees on the matter. The UNHCR recommended against granting asylum, the spokeswoman said Wednesday.

No reason was given for the denial.

It was not immediately known what grounds bin Laden gave for his request, and the spokeswoman said it is unlikely to be disclosed ...

Bin Laden, who is married to a British citizen, previously was denied asylum in Britain. He holds a Saudi passport ...

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/11/05/osama.son.spain/