From a French painter to a diehard Trump supporter, the family of the deceased Al-Qaeda leader have attempted to rebuild their lives
Omar bin Laden is the son of one of the most notorious monsters of the modern age, but until recently he was making a peaceful living in the Orne region of Normandy painting landscapes – a far cry from the atrocities perpetrated by his father on Sept 11 2001.
However, the 43-year-old has now been banned from returning to France by the nation’s new Interior Minister, Bruno Retailleau, who accused him of writing social media posts “glorifying terrorism”.
Omar was forced to leave the country in 2023 when his residency permit was revoked, after the social media account @omarbinladin1 on X (formerly Twitter) reportedly posted a message on the 12th anniversary of Osama’s death, paying tribute to him; the account has since been suspended. Omar claimed the accusations were based on “false information”.
He had gained his residency permit through his union with Jane Felix-Browne, a grandmother 24 years his senior and a parish councillor from Moulton in Cheshire, who changed her name to Zaina Mohammed Al-Sabah following their marriage in 2007. He had previously tried to settle in the UK, but was stopped by British authorities; instead they settled in France in 2016, but seem to have outstayed their welcome.
This latest dispute gets to the heart of the complex relationship that Omar, and several other members of the bin Laden family, have with the mastermind of 9/11 as they rebuild their lives. The bin Ladens are known as “the Kennedys of Jeddah” in Saudi Arabia for their combination of extreme wealth and scandalous tragedies.
Peter Bergen, author of several books on bin Laden, including The Rise and Fall of Osama Bin Laden, told the Telegraph: “The bin Laden family have been a part of the Saudi establishment for three generations. They’re not part of the royal family, but they are part of this business elite.
“Osama is one of 55, he has all these half-sisters and half-brothers, many of whom studied in the United States, and they’re part of the Saudi elite. It’s well understood that bin Laden was the black sheep of the family, the family cut him off in 1994… It obviously wasn’t good for their public image but they continue to run a very large construction firm, not just in terms of Saudi Arabia but in the Middle East in general.
“If the question is whether they’re being discriminated against because they’re members of the bin Laden family, the answer is basically no – certainly as it pertains to the family in Saudi Arabia, which is the place they care most about. They’re part of the establishment there and that’s going to carry on.”
Some in the family remained loyal to Osama’s mission; others have worked tirelessly to separate themselves from him. Three of his sons were killed by US authorities, three wives who were with him when he was assassinated wound up in a Pakistani prison for a year, and one wife, Khaeriah Sahaba, was detained in Iran, though released in 2010 in a prisoner swap.
Osama’s brother-in-law, Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, denounced him after the World Trade Centre attack but seems to have shared some of his views. He was accused of using charitable organisations to funnel money to extremists in the Philippines, and in 2007 he was killed while visiting his gemstone mine in Madagascar. At the time of his death, he was being monitored by the U.S Secret Service. Some of his family believe his death was a “political killing”.
However, many of Osama’s relations are thriving, and in surprising ways, whether supporting Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, donating £1 million to the Royal family, or entering the world of British horse racing.
Osama bin Laden himself was born into an aristocratic family in Saudi Arabia in 1957. His grandfather, Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, made billions as a construction magnate, and he maintained a close relationship with the Saudi royal family. Osama attended an elite school, and studied at King Abdulaziz University (where he was radicalised).
But his own family – at least five wives and between 20 and 26 children – were not to enjoy that same life of untroubled wealth, status and luxury. Omar was among those groomed for jihadist terrorism. He was taken to an Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan by his father when he was 14, although he eventually left after telling Osama he did not want to be associated with killing civilians. Theirs was clearly a violent relationship: Omar recalls being beaten for smiling too widely. Omar also alleges that Osama’s children lost their pet puppies to brutal poison gas experiments by Al-Qaeda fighters.
“As a teenager, Omar had a very rocky relationship with his dad, which is recounted in the book he wrote,” says Bergen. “He was a rebellious kid who Osama seemed to despise at a certain point.”
However, he has defended Osama in interviews, saying “my father is a very kind man”. In May 2011, he published a complaint alleging that his father’s burial at sea deprived his family of a proper burial. Omar took up painting during lockdown, learning by “watching guys on YouTube”. Yet he hasn’t entirely escaped his past: locations from his childhood are frequent subjects in his work, such as the mountains of Afghanistan. “Sometimes people judge you by your father,” Omar commented in 2022. “But here I feel very free. No one judges me – I am respected and left in peace. In France, I have become an artist!”
A relatively successful one too apparently. Dealer Pascal Martin reported that they had “sold a lot [of paintings], all over the world”, adding, rather bizarrely, “The name bin Laden sells.” He shared that the price range was around €750 for the smaller paintings up to €2,500 for the largest.
Meanwhile, Osama’s mother, Alia Ghanem, is holed up in a Jeddah mansion – and still has photographs of her son proudly displayed around her lavish home, which was funded by her family’s construction billions. In a 2018 interview with The Guardian, she recalled Osama as a bright, loving boy who was “brainwashed”. She seems most disappointed that he turned his back on their successful family, and a life of fast cars and big houses: “Why would he throw it all away like that?”
But this part of the family at least has returned to something like their pre-9/11 life. It was because of their good relationship with Saudi Arabia’s then-Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef that Osama’s wives and children are allowed to live in Jeddah – although they are prevented from leaving the kingdom. Ghanem is essentially residing in a gilded cage.
Other bin Laden relatives have turned authors, making their case for some kind of redemption, or at least sympathy, in print. Najwa Ghanem is Osama’s first cousin and became his first wife, aged 15, in 1974. She co-authored the 2009 book Growing Up bin Laden with their son Omar, writing that she was pressured to give birth to 11 children to provide more warriors for Islam.
Several children had medical difficulties (likely because their parents were cousins), yet Osama refused to allow Western treatment. A number suffered from asthma, but instead of an inhaler, Osama instructed them to breathe through a piece of honeycomb. Her contributions to the book are a fascinating study in equivocation: she avoids outright condemnation of her husband while emphasising her travails as a mother.
Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/10/what-became-of-osama-bin-ladens-family/