Germany: ‘Special Measures Committee’ to Study Deporting Osama Bin Laden’s Bodyguard

Osama bin Laden. Reuters
Osama bin Laden. Reuters
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Germany: ‘Special Measures Committee’ to Study Deporting Osama Bin Laden’s Bodyguard

Osama bin Laden. Reuters
Osama bin Laden. Reuters

The German government decided to form a "special measures committee" to study ways of deporting a Tunisian man, who allegedly served as one of Osama bin Laden’s bodyguards, to his home country.

Germany’s Federal Ministry of Interior announced Thursday the formation of this committee and said it will focus primarily on receiving assurances from the Tunisian government not to torture and humiliate Sami A. once he lands in his country.

The federal interior ministry established this committee back in 2005, and it is being controlled by the parliament (Bundestag).

The committee’s headquarters is in the Berlin-based Joint Counterterrorism Center, and it includes experts from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Federal Intelligence Service (BND).

It is specialized in cases of terrorism suspects and "dangerous" militants, who are not German nationals. It also considers cases of the withdrawal of asylum from serious and criminal offenders.

A spokesman for the federal interior ministry said “there are attempts to deport the former bodyguard of Bin Laden” and a ministerial task force will examine the case soon.

Responding to queries from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, the government of North Rhine-Westphalia state said the 42-year-old can’t be deported because he might face torture in Tunisia.

The man, only identified as Sami A., has lived in Germany since 1997 and gets €1,168 (£1,022) a month in welfare payments.

The figure was revealed by a regional government, after the far-right AfD asked about him.

Sami A was investigated for alleged al-Qaeda links in 2006, but he was not charged.

According to witness testimony from a German anti-terror trial in 2005, Sami A. served for several months in 2000 as one of Bin Laden's bodyguards in Afghanistan. He denies that, but judges in Dusseldorf believed the witness.

He lives with a German wife and four children in the city of Bochum, in western Germany.

After obtaining a temporary residence permit in Germany in 1999 he took several technology courses and moved to the city in 2005.

His asylum application was rejected in 2007 because the authorities had listed him as a security risk. He has to report daily at a police station.

The Federal Constitutional Service has put Sami A. since 2012 in the list of dangerous hardliners, whom the department believes they are ready to carry out terrorist operations in Germany.



Peace Inches Forward in Türkiye as Parliament Eyes Cautious PKK Integration

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)
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Peace Inches Forward in Türkiye as Parliament Eyes Cautious PKK Integration

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday hailed a symbolic disarmament move by Kurdish militants as the beginning of a new chapter in the country’s decades-long fight against terrorism, but warned the process would not involve political bargaining.

Speaking at a ruling AK Party consultative meeting in Kızılcahamam, near Ankara, Erdogan said the gesture by a faction of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to lay down and burn its weapons marked “the dawn of a strong and great Türkiye.”

“With the end of a 47-year-old plague of terrorism now in sight, we are opening the doors to a new era,” Erdogan said. “The process ahead will uphold Türkiye’s dignity and respect the sensitivities of its people. No one will be allowed to compromise the honor of this nation.”

The symbolic surrender ceremony took place Friday near Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq, a region long known to harbor PKK fighters.

While Erdogan stopped short of detailing next steps, Turkish sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that gradual legislative moves are expected in parliament starting this week. These may include reduced sentences or pardons for PKK members as part of the wider reconciliation effort.

The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, has waged an insurgency since 1984 that has killed tens of thousands. Previous attempts at peace talks collapsed in 2015, triggering years of renewed violence.

Erdogan, who has increasingly adopted nationalist rhetoric, stressed that any future measures would be carefully calibrated. “This is not an open-ended negotiation. It is a national process conducted with resolve and clarity,” he said.

Erdogan on Saturday ruled out any political negotiations behind a symbolic disarmament move by Kurdish militants, insisting Türkiye’s ongoing campaign to eliminate terrorism is not the result of concessions or backroom deals.

“I want to make it absolutely clear that the ‘Terror-Free Türkiye initiative we are pursuing is not born of negotiations, bartering, or give-and-take,” Erdogan said in his speech to the ruling AK Party’s consultative gathering in Kızılcahamam.

“Let everyone rest assured: we will never allow the honor of the Republic of Türkiye to be violated. Türkiye will not bow down — and we will move forward with this understanding.”

His remarks came a day after a faction of the PKK held a public ceremony near Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq, where fighters laid down and burned their weapons in what supporters described as a symbolic gesture rather than full surrender.

Pro-PKK figures said the act was meant to preserve the “dignity of the armed struggle,” and called on Turkish authorities to permit Kurdish political participation and release jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned since 1999.

Erdogan on Saturday also outlined the next phase in the country’s push to end nearly five decades of Kurdish militancy, saying a parliamentary committee would be formed to examine the legal framework for disarming the PKK.

“We hope the Turkish parliament will support the process with a constructive and facilitative approach,” Erdogan said during a speech to members of his ruling AK Party in Kızılcahamam.

“With the end of terrorism, the Republic of Türkiye will emerge stronger and more self-confident than ever before,” Erdogan said. “We will redirect our energy toward development and prosperity, rather than the fight against terrorism.”

The president vowed to expedite the process while honoring national sensitivities. “We will closely monitor the disarmament step by step. As the terrorist group lays down its arms, Türkiye will grow in fraternity, deepen its democracy, and move into the future with greater stability and security,” he said.