Saudi says Hamza bin Laden stripped of his citizenship

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Hamza Bin Laden, seen as a rising successor to his father al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has been stripped of his Saudi citizenship, the kingdom’s Umm al-Qura newspaper said Friday, March 1.

Bin Laden, designated by the United States as an “emerging” al-Qaeda leader, had his citizenship stripped on February 22 by royal decree, the newspaper said, quoting Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry.

It did not give a reason for the decision.

The US on Thursday, February 28, offered a $1 million reward for information on Hamza bin Laden, seeing him as an emerging face of extremism.

Bin Laden, who according to Washington is around 30, has threatened attacks against the US to avenge the 2011 killing of his father – who was living in hiding in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad – by US special forces.

The location of Bin Laden, sometimes dubbed the “crown prince of jihad,” has been the subject of speculation for years with reports of him living in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria or under house arrest in Iran. – Rappler.com