French authorities have banned a son of the founder of the jihadist organization al-Qaeda from entering the country Osama Bin Ladenwho lived there for years painting landscapes in a village in Normandy and allegedly posted comments on social media that were deemed to glorify terrorism.

The Minister of the Interior Bruno Retegio said he signed an order barring Omar bin Laden from entering France after a court upheld an earlier deportation order issued on national security grounds.

Reteggio did not go into detail about the timing of the deportation or where bin Laden was sent.

“Mr. Bin Laden, who lived in the Orne prefecture for years, having married a British citizen, posted comments on his social media in 2023 glorifying terrorism,” Retegio wrote to X.

“The administrative ban ensures that Mr. Bin Laden cannot return to France for any reason.”

THE Pascal Martinwho helped bin Laden sell his paintings, described him as a man who opposed Islamist ideology, who made a living from his artwork and paid his taxes. Bin Laden is currently in Qatar, Marten said.

“We became friends and I can tell you that nothing they say is like the Omar I know,” Marten told Reuters.

According to the local weekly Le Publicateur Libre, bin Laden came to the attention of French authorities after a social media post about the anniversary of his father’s death. Osama Bin Laden was killed by US forces in 2011.

Reuters has not yet been able to locate the social media post. Marten said bin Laden told friends that strangers had hacked his social media account.

The newspaper wrote that in July 2023, police were looking for bin Laden in the village of Domfort, in Normandy.