Bin Laden son in Spain asylum bid

One of Osama Bin Laden's sons has asked for political asylum in Spain, local officials say.

Omar Osama Bin Laden, aged 27, made his claim after a scheduled stopover at Madrid's Barajas airport on a flight from Egypt to Morocco.

The reasons for his asylum request were not immediately clear.

The self-declared pacifist son of the al-Qaeda leader was earlier this year refused entry to live in the UK with his 52-year-old British wife.

The Spanish authorities said they would deal with Mr Bin Laden's case "speedily", Spain's El Pais newspaper reported.

He was carrying a Saudi passport, the Spanish interior ministry officials said.

He currently lives in Cairo, with wife Zaina Alsabah-Bin Laden, formerly named Jane Felix-Browne, from Cheshire.

They had hoped to move to Mrs Bin Laden's home in north-western England.

The couple said the visa application was rejected in April after the British authorities had judged that it might not be "conducive to the public good".

It is thought the authorities were referring to comments made by Mr Bin Laden that he could not prove 100% that his father - whom he says he has not seen since he was 19 - was responsible for the 2001 attacks in the US or the London bombings in 2005.

Mrs Bin Laden, who is severely visually impaired, said she needed access to medical treatment in the UK but refused to be apart from her husband.

Mr Bin Laden is one of 19 sons of the al-Qaeda leader.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
El Pais (in Spanish)
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites