Sudan: Getting quick debt relief & credit seems bleak

• On his return from his recent trip to Washington DC, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said that the transitional government will be closing the offices of both Hamas and Hezbollah, designated by the US as terrorist groups.
• By remaining on the list, Sudan is prevented from accessing the much-need $10bn in aid it was hoping to raise to repair the battered economy.
• According to professor David Shinn, a former US diplomat and an expert on Sudanese affairs, the US is keeping Sudan on the SST list to see how the transitional government will bring the RSF under its control. 
• As it will take more than three years to remove Sudan from the SST list, the hope to get immediate debt relief and credit seems bleak. Read more:

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Sudan needs US support – both diplomatic and economic

Opinion Piece from The Africa Report.com

Published Monday 10 February 2020 09:51, updated Tuesday 11 February 2020 16:10

By Jihad Mashamoun (pictured below) Doctoral candidate of Middle East Politics within the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies of the University of Exeter, England, United Kingdom

The Sudanese government is working hard to get itself removed from the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SST) in order to get much-needed investment into the country.

On his return from his recent trip to Washington DC, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said that the transitional government will be closing the offices of both Hamas and Hezbollah, designated by the US as terrorist groups.

By remaining on the list, Sudan is prevented from accessing the much-needed $10bn in aid it was hoping to raise to repair the battered economy.

Although Hamdok’s visit to the US was certainly positive – the US agreed to upgrade its diplomatic representation to the ambassador level – removing Sudan from the US list will take longer than the three-year period of the transitional government.

So what are the implications of the US keeping Sudan in its SST list? How could the US help Sudan overcome those obstacles?

From a distance

As the US does not want the bloody crackdown on protesters of 3 June to occur again, Makila James, deputy assistant secretary for East Africa and the Sudans, has informed US House officials that the government is looking at options including sanctions should similar events occur.

That pressured the Transitional Military Council (TMC) to reach an agreement with the opposition. However, the US remains uneasy about the inclusion of the military in the transition process.

That is because the transitional process includes military elements of the former regime of president Omar al-Bashir.

Those elements include Lt. General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the former chairman of the TMC, and Lt. General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ‘Hemeti’, former deputy chairman of the TMC and who is the commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Both military leaders have been implicated in the genocide that took place in Darfur in 2014 [Sudan Watch Ed: stating that genocide took place in Darfur in 2014 is an error, it should read 2004 not 2014 - also, as far as I am aware, genocide in Darfur has not been proven in a court of law. In my view, the Darfur war, reportedly starting in 2003, was a horrific counter-insurgency costing 300,000-400,000 lives and badly affecting and displacing millions of other Darfuris]. Moreover, the independence of Lt. General Hemeti and his RSF from the Sudanese Armed Forces has been a cause of concern US officials, especially since the emptying of the protest site in front of the Sudanese military headquarters on 3 June.

According to professor David Shinn, a former US diplomat and an expert on Sudanese affairs, the US is keeping Sudan on the SST list to see how the transitional government will bring the RSF under its control.

What about the security establishment?

Another point of concern for US officials is the hold of the former regime over the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), which has been recently revamped into the General Intelligence Services (GIS).

The US included Sudan on the SST list in 1990s even though its Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had joint operations with the NISS, which was headed by Salah Abdallah ‘Gosh’ at the time. In 2005, the CIA flew him into its headquarters as a reward for Sudan’s support in detaining suspected militants and providing information on Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda following the 11 September 2001 attacks.

In the 1990s, Sudan invited and hosted Bin Laden. The US had deemed him a threat for his planning of the attack on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The US attack on the Shifa pharmaceutical factory in 1998 was a turning point where Sudan abandoned Bin Laden by attempting to hand him over to the CIA.

Thereafter, the Bashir regime decided to work with the US intelligence agencies to repair the relationship between the two countries and to remove Sudan from the SST list.

One of the central individuals who was tasked with supporting ties with the US was the controversial Salah Gosh. He and the Bashir regime helped the CIA in counter-terrorism operations.

With the removal of Salah Gosh from his position as head of the NISS, the US has concerns about its counter-terrorism partner.

On 2 December, Cameron Hudson, who was a former US diplomat and former chief of staff of the George Bush administration, said the US worries that Salah Gosh has supporters who could undermine the country’s reform efforts.

The recent mutiny of the operations unit of the GIS shows that the US’s fears were well founded.

That is because it became apparent that Lt. General Mustafa Abubakr Dambalab, who was appointed as the chief of the GIS, was a supporter of Salah Gosh. 

Salah Gosh founded the operations unit of the NISS in 2005.

Sources say Salah Gosh manipulated the operations unit to mutiny and to try to instigate a coup as Lt. General Hemeti on 13 January 2020.

Sailing into safer waters

As the recent mutiny has shown that the supporters of the former regime will continue to threaten the transition process by creating insecurity, it is apparent that the inclusion of Sudan on the SST list is also threatening the transition process.

As it will take more than three years to remove Sudan from the SST list, the hope to get immediate debt relief and credit seems bleak.

However, to help guide Sudan’s transitional process into safe waters, there are a series of immediate measures that could satisfy the immediate goals of both Sudan and the US:

• 1.  As fellow Sudanese have understandably great expectations, the US could help Hamdok’s government in managing the expectations of the population by appointing a pro-active ambassador.
• It is recommended that the ambassador work with both the Sudanese government and the governing Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces party in communicating clearly what the US expects from Sudan.
• 2.  The US could help address Sudan’s security problems by working with its regional allies to hand over Salah Gosh and other members of the former regime to Sudan so that they can face prosecution for the crimes they committed against the people since 30 June 1989.
• 3.  While Hamdok’s government has been operating with public support so far, removing fuel and food subsidies to balance the books will undermine it. Therefore, rather than following policies driven by the narrow economic agenda of the World Bank and IMF, the government and the international community could work together in retrieving the billions of dollars that the former regime leaders have stashed outside Sudan.

View Original: https://www.theafricareport.com/23171/sudan-needs-us-support-both-diplomatic-and-economic/

US ‘has intelligence Hamza bin Laden is dead’ - US offers $1 million reward to find Osama bin Laden’s son

Article from The Telegraph.co.uk

By NICK ALLEN, Washington

Date: Wednesday, 31 July 2019 8:58PM

US ‘has intelligence Hamza bin Laden is dead’

The United States has received intelligence that Hamza bin Laden, the son and possible successor of the former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, is dead, according to reports.

There were no details of how, or where, the reported death occurred, or whether the US had itself confirmed the information, NBC News reported.

Asked whether Hamza bin Laden was dead, Donald Trump, the US president, said: "I don’t want to comment on it. I don’t want to comment on that."

Three US officials confirmed the intelligence had been obtained, but gave no details of whether the US was involved in causing Hamza bin Laden's death, NBC News reported.

Five months ago the US state department announced a $1 million reward for information on his location, and described Hamza bin Laden, who is aged about 30, as an "emerging al-Qaeda leader."

In a statement at the time the US government added: "He has released audio and video messages on the internet, calling on his followers to launch attacks against the United States and its Western allies, and he has threatened attacks against the United States in revenge for the May 2011 killing of his father by US military forces."

Osama bin Laden was shot dead by US Navy Seals in May 2011 in a raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Hamza bin Laden was not discovered at the compound.

He is believed to have been the 15th of Osama bin Laden's roughly 20 children.

Hamza bin Laden spent his early childhood with his parents in Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Afghanistan.

Following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks he was sent to Iran.

After his father's death he became known as the Crown Prince of Jihad, calling for jihadists to unite, and for the overthrow of the Saudi royal family.

In one of the recordings he released after his father's death, Hamza bin Laden said: "If you think that the crime you perpetrated in Abbottabad has gone by with no reckoning, you are wrong."

He reportedly married the daughter of Mohammed Atta, the leader of the September 11, 2001 hijackers. And Ayman al-Zawahiri, his father's successor as leader of al-Qaeda, described him as a "lion".

Al-Qaeda was believed to be hoping to use his name as a propaganda tool as it sought a resurgence in the wake of the destruction of the caliphate of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

View the original article here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/31/us-has-intelligence-hamza-bin-laden-dead/

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Article from The Telegraph.co.uk

By BEN FARMER, Islamabad; GIANLUCA AVAGNINA, video producer

Date: 01 March 2019 2:39PM

US offers $1 million reward to find Osama bin Laden’s son

A favourite son of Osama bin Laden who has tried to take on his father's mantle of international jihadist leader has had his Saudi citizenship removed and a $1m reward put on his head.

America offered a bounty for information leading to the capture of Hamza bin Laden after the man sometimes called the Crown Prince of Jihad has become a rising star in al Qaeda.

The son of the group's late founder was now emerging as a leader in his father's network after issuing a string of exhortations to attack the West, the United States said.

The measures followed the warning last month by the head of MI6, Alex Younger, that al Qaeda was undergoing a resurgence.

As the bearer of the world's most notorious terrorist name, and son of the man behind the 9/11 attacks, his pedigree as jihadist royalty potentially makes him a potent propaganda tool for al Qaeda.

The group is thought to be trying to capitalise on the destruction of the Islamic State's caliphate to again become the world's pre-eminent jihadist group, analysts have said.

But his lineage alone may not be enough to propel him to the top of the organisation without concrete achievements in jihad.

Film: First video of Osama bin Laden’s son Hamza as an adult

“Whether he is ’the chosen one’ still needs to be seen, but he has become more prominent in the group’s media releases during the last three years,” said Tore Hamming, a jihadist specialist at the European University Institute.

“His last name is a major advantage. His father, Osama, still commands incredible respect within the Jihadi movement, not just in al-Qaeda, but more broadly. Hamza was always favoured by his father and he has been groomed by the most senior people in al Qaeda.”

The young bin Laden is thought to be aged around 30 years old and is possibly hiding in Afghanistan, Western officials believe.

Eight years after his father was shot dead in a special forces raid on a compound in Abbottabad, in Pakistan, America has now issued a reward for information about his son.

“Hamza bin Laden is the son of deceased former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and is emerging as a leader in the al Qaeda franchise,” the US State Department said.

Hamza is believed to be the 15th of bin Laden's 20-odd children and spent his early childhood with his parents, first in Saudi Arabia and then in Sudan and Afghanistan in the 1990s.

After the 9/11 attacks, when bin Laden became the world's most wanted man, several wives and children including Hamza were sent for their won safety to live in Iran.

Letters discovered in the Abbottabad compound after the May 2011 raid that killed the older bin Laden show Hamza had a close bond with his father and wanted to follow in his footsteps. His father in turn appeared to be grooming him for a leadership role.

At one point Hamza complained of living “behind iron bars” and wanting to join his father's holy war against the West.

“What truly makes me sad, is the mujahideen legions have marched and I have not joined them,” he wrote.

By the time of his father's death, Hamza had left Iran, but was not living in his father's compound. Instead he was reportedly kept in a separate safe house and was to be sent to Qatar for education.

“Hamza is one of the mujahideen, and he bears their thoughts and worries,” his father wrote in one letter.

He has since gone on to swear revenge for his father's death. “If you think that the crime you perpetrated in Abbottabad has gone by with no reckoning, you are wrong,” he warned in one recording.

Image: The poster released by the US State Department

His status in al Qaeda was underlined when he was introduced by the network's leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, as a “lion”. His jihadist pedigree has been further burnished by reports he married the daughter of 9/11 lead hijacker Mohammed Atta.

In one 2015 audio message, he called on jihadists in Syria to unite, claiming that the fight would pave the way to “liberating Palestine.” He has also called for the overthrow of the Saudi royal family.

Saudi Arabia on Friday said it would revoke his citizenship.

The US reward for information on Hamza bin Laden's head however remains far lower than the rewards on other al Qaeda figures, said Daniel L Byman of the Brookings Institution think tank.

Al-Zawahiri, who has a $25m reward for information, undoubtedly remains leader of the organisation, he said.

“It’s a bounty for a prominent figure but it’s not a huge bounty compared to his father or previous top-level figures.”

“The thing about him is that there isn’t much to know. He’s very young, he spent a lot of time in hiding in Iran… and he doesn’t have major operational credibility that other figures have,” he said.

“Right now he’s at best a figurehead...while seasoned leaders are trying to recapture their brand, which was much stronger under his father. With that in mind using the Bin Laden name is sensible, the question is can he build on this and go from the son of an important person to an important person in his own right.”

View the original article here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/03/01/us-offers-1-million-reward-find-osama-bin-ladens-son/

Pentagon convenes Sudanese war-crime cases

From Miami Herald by Carol Rosenberg, 19 October 2009:
Pentagon convenes Sudanese war-crime cases

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- With U.S.-Sudan policy in flux, the Pentagon on Monday airlifted a planeload of lawyers and other staff to this remote base for hearings in the war court cases of two long-held Sudanese captives accused of working for al Qaeda.

Noor Uthman Mohammed, in his 40s, is up first Wednesday with a Pentagon prosecutor's request for another delay in the military commissions case that alleges he helped run a jihadist training camp in 1990s Afghanistan.

Defense lawyers, meantime, are seeking more transparency in the case that accuses their Sudanese client of conspiring with al Qaeda to support terror.

In Washington, the White House announced a renewed drive toward engagement with the now-ostracized government of Sudanese President Omar al Bashir, saying it is poised to ratchet up sanctions over the genocide in Darfur or offer unspecified incentives for improving human rights there.

Bashir has been charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal Court in the Hague, a body that has multinational backing. In contrast, the Guantánamo war court here was created in the Bush years, after the 9/11 attacks, as a unilateral American institution to handle international terror cases.

Sudan's government has been on the State Department's State Sponsors of Terrorism list since the 90s for giving sanctuary to Osama bin Laden. Sudan responded by asking him to leave, which he did for Afghanistan.

Still, the timing of the latest diplomatic drive and U.S. military commission session appeared coincidental rather than signaling a focus on Sudan by the Defense and State Departments.

The war court airlift left Andrews Air Force Base at dawn Monday, and the 100 lawyers and other staff were en route for Wednesday's session for two Sudanese men as the White House was briefing on its new carrot or stick approach to Khartoum.

"I'd love to think my government is that organized,'' said Navy Cmdr. Suzanne Lachelier, defense attorney for alleged al Qaeda foot soldier Ibrahim al Qosi of Sudan, who has a hearing Wednesday, too. "But I don't believe it is, particularly on anything surrounding Guantánamo.''

Moreover, the U.S. has carved out a special relationship with Khartoum over its Guantánamo detainees, even as it has condemned it over Darfur. During the Bush administration, for example, the U.S. repatriated nine Sudanese citizens from the prison camps here, the best known among them former Al Jazeera soundman turned human rights correspondent Sami al Hajj.

Wednesday, a Sudanese lawyer will watch the hearings here via a closed-circuit feed to the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum. The U.S. has agreed to let him serve as a foreign legal adviser to the defense in the Qosi case.

Essentially, this week's session is designed to win government delays in the cases while the Obama White House considers how much, if at all, to use military commissions.

Defense attorneys for both men have asked their military judges to dismiss the charges, arguing that, after two earlier delays, the clock should run out on the cases even as the Obama administration decides what to do with them.

Obama has said he prefers classic criminal prosecutions but recognizes that commissions can be at times useful. Justice Department attorneys are now studying all six current war crimes prosecution to decide which should shift to federal courts on U.S. soil.

In tandem, Attorney General Eric Holder is overseeing a massive review of the files of all 221 foreign men held here to decide who should be sent home or resettled elsewhere under President Barack Obama's Jan. 22 order to empty the prison camps.

Only three detainees among the nearly 800 held here across the years have had full war crimes cases. Two were convicted, one on a plea bargain, and got such short sentences that they are now free -- in Australia and Yemen.

The third is serving life for working as Bin Laden's media aide and producing an al Qaeda recruiting film.

The two Sudanese cases up Wednesday also seek life sentences for each man, if convicted on allegations that they worked with al Qaeda in Afghanistan in the years before the 9/11 attacks.

Pakistani security forces captured Noor in a suspected terrorist safehouse in Faisalabad in March 2002 in a sweep that caught alleged arch-terrorist Abu Zubaydeh, who was sent to a CIA dark site while most of the other captives were sent here for interrogation.

Wednesday afternoon brings a hearing for Qosi, a 49-year-old Sudanese man whom the Pentagon at one time accused of being al Qaeda's payroll clerk.

It dropped those charges after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled former President George Bush's first war court unconstitutional, and he is now charged with supporting terror and conspiracy for allegedly serving as a bodyguard for Bin Laden in Afghanistan, a member of an al Qaeda mortar crew and supply officer at a Bin Laden's "Star of Jihad'' compound in Jalalabad.

The Pentagon notified news organizations late last week about Monday's trip from Washington to report on Wednesday's hearing.

But, the war court spokesman, Joe DellaVedova, said this week's hearing was scheduled "months ago" and cast the Sudan policy connection as unintended.

"The purpose of the continuance hearings is for the government to follow the President's Executive Order while the government completes its legal reviews of the Military Commissions cases,'' said DellaVedova. "The government believes it is in the interest of justice to pause proceedings until a forum determination is made in each commission case.'

CROSENBERG@MIAMIHERALD.COM

Osama bin Laden forced into exile in Sudan because of his vocal opposition to US troop deployments in Saudi Arabia

After being forced into exile in Sudan because of his vocal opposition to US troop deployments in Saudi Arabia, bin Laden would later take pride in growing sunflowers as he dodged assassination plots and built the Al-Qaeda network...

From AFP by Andrew Beatty, Friday, October 16, 2009:
Bin Laden: 'an austere dad who loved nature': wife

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Osama bin Laden was an austere father who banned toys and modern appliances at home, but also a flower-growing nature lover who spoke fluent English and adored fast cars, according to his wife and son.

In a book to be published at the end of this month, the Al-Qaeda boss's first wife Najwa and fourth son Omar give a rare glimpse into bin Laden's personal life up to the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States he is believed to have masterminded.

They chart bin Laden's transformation from a pious teenage newly-wed to the global face of Islamic extremism, a role that took the family from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan, Sudan, Afghanistan and at one point, Najwa revealed, to the United States.

Shortly after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, bin Laden and his wife, whom he married aged 17, visited Indianapolis and Los Angeles for a meeting with his mentor, Palestinian cleric Abdullah Azzam.

"We were only there for only two weeks, and for one of those weeks, Osama was away in Los Angeles to meet with some men in that city," Najwa told the book's co-author Jean Sasson, later recalling the gathering was with Azzam.

Soon after, bin Laden began to travel to Pakistan and Afghanistan to fight against the Soviet occupation, returning to tell his sons tales of battles in Afghan caves and mountains under Soviet fire.

He eventually returned to Saudi Arabia a hero, but at home was increasingly disciplinarian, punishing his children -- who eventually numbered more than a dozen -- for transgressions such as "showing too many teeth" while laughing.

Meanwhile, Najwa was kept in seclusion with Osama's new wives, one of whom she picked, in a spartan home without the mod-cons that make life in the stifling desert lands of Saudi Arabia and Sudan more comfortable.

"My father would not allow my mother to turn on the air conditioning that the contractor had built into the apartment building," Omar relayed.

"Neither would he allow her to use the refrigerator that was standing in the kitchen."

Despite this aversion to modern appliances, bin Laden indulged in his penchant for fast cars, including at least one gold-colored Mercedes. He once even bought a speed boat.

"Nothing gave him more satisfaction than having a full day to take a speedy drive to the desert, where he would leave his automobile while he took long walks," said Najwa.

After being forced into exile in Sudan because of his vocal opposition to US troop deployments in Saudi Arabia, bin Laden would later take pride in growing sunflowers as he dodged assassination plots and built the Al-Qaeda network.

"Osama's favorite undertaking was working the land, growing the best corn and the biggest sunflowers," Najwa said.

But his love of nature was also colored by growing political fervor.

He forced the family to spend nights in the desert, with only dirt as cover from the cold. He also forced his sons to climb desert mountains without water to toughen them ahead of more difficult times.

But there were more lighthearted moments with bin Laden, whom his sons admired as a good horseman, a fluent English speaker -- thanks to his school days -- and a mathematics whiz.

"My father was so well known for the skill that there were times when men would come to our home and ask him to match his wits against a calculator," Omar said, adding his father usually won.

They also spoke about a man who loved eating fruit, particularly mangoes, took two sugars in his tea, whose favorite meal was marrow-stuffed zucchini and who liked to listen to BBC radio.

Spooks will no doubt pour over the book for new clues to bin Laden's habits or whereabouts.

They will learn he may be able to pilot a helicopter, but also suffers from bouts of malaria and is partially blind in his right eye thanks to a boyhood metalwork injury for which he received treatment in London.

Bin Laden's son Omar Osama has been deported from Spain and is being questioned by Egyptian authorities in Cairo

November 9, 2008 BBC report:

Bin Laden son questioned in Egypt

One of Osama Bin Laden's sons has been deported from Spain following a failed asylum bid and is being questioned by the Egyptian authorities in Cairo.

Omar Osama Bin Laden, 27, arrived in Spain on Monday with his British wife and claimed his life was in danger in the Middle East.

But Spanish officials said there was no provision for the couple to claim asylum under Spanish law.

The pair have also been unsuccessful in securing British visas.

Mr Bin Laden, one of the al-Qaeda leader's 19 sons, made his claim for asylum at Barajas airport during a stopover on a flight from Egypt to Morocco with his 52-year-old wife, Zaina Alsabah Bin Laden, formerly Jane Felix-Browne of Cheshire.

He said the petition was rejected due to "insufficient evidence of danger or threat to [his] life". An appeal against the ruling is also believed to have been rejected.

He and his wife remained in a transit area until being deported on Saturday.

An unnamed Egyptian official told the Associated Press that a decision had not yet been taken on whether to allow them to enter the country.

Omar Bin Laden, a metals trader, says he has urged his father to give up violence and has not seen him since 2000.

Mrs Bin Laden says his life is in danger because he "stands up and asks for peace" and that Spain is their "only chance of surviving".

Photo: Mr Bin Laden says he has not spoken to his father for eight years (Getty Images/BBC)
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Postscript from Sudan Watch Ed.

This evening, in response to a previous post here at Sudan Watch (Ref: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 - Bin Laden's son Omar Osama loses asylum bid in Spain) an anonymous Sudan Watch reader emailed me to say:

"Sorry if I am being stupid, but what does this have to do with Sudan?"

I responded with this reply:

Thank you for subscribing to Sudan Watch.

Please click into Sudan Watch main page http://sudanwatch.blogspot.com

And see search box in top left hand corner of page.

Type into the search box two words: bin laden.

The search will produce a page of posts from Sudan Watch archives.

Scroll through the whole page to receive the answer to your question.

Thank you for reading Sudan Watch.

Bin Laden's son Omar Osama loses asylum bid in Spain

November 5, 2008 International Herald Tribune report via foolocracy.com:

Bin Laden’s Son Seeks Asylum In Spain

Omar Osama Bin Laden, one of Osama Bin Laden’s sons, is requesting political asylum in Spain. Bin Laden is at Madrid’s Barajas airport in a special section for asylum seekers. Spain has three days to respond to his request. It was not known on what grounds Bin Laden was seeking asylum.

Bin Laden, a pacifist, urged his father to “find another way” during a CNN interview earlier in the year.

Bin Laden, 27, married a 51-year-old British woman last year.

He also sought asylum in Britain, but the request was turned down because authorities thought his loyalty to his father would “cause considerable public concern.” Bin Laden was with his father in Sudan and Afghanistan, but left before the 9/11 attacks.

“I am proud of my name, but if you have a name like mine you will find people run away from you, are afraid of you,” said Bin Laden.

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November 5, 2008 Associated Press report via The New York Times:

Son of Osama Bin Laden Loses Asylum Bid in Spain

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Spain's Interior Ministry says it has rejected an asylum request from a son of Osama bin Laden.

A ministry official says the government determined that 27-year-old Omar Osama bin Laden did not ''meet the conditions necessary for entering Spain.''

The official would not elaborate or discuss the younger bin Ladder's reasons for seeking asylum upon arriving Monday at Madrid's Barrages Airport. The ministry official spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity in line with government policy.

Omar Osama Bin Laden has 24 hours to appeal and remains in an airport transit area.

The Spanish official said the government usually seeks a recommendation from the U.N. refugee agency in asylum request cases. He says the agency also recommended against asylum.

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UPDATE: See Sudan Watch post dated Sunday, November 09, 2008: Bin Laden's son Omar Osama has been deported from Spain and is being questioned by Egyptian authorities in Cairo