Bin Laden’s son put on FBI list

WASHINGTON: The United States has put Osama bin Laden’s son on the FBI’s list because of his terrorist activities and threatening American national security.

The FBI on Thursday announced that Hamza bin Laden has been placed on its “Seeking More Information List regarding his terrorist activities.”

The young Laden is wanted for questioning in connection with his membership in the Al-Qaeda organization and his public declarations threatening the security of the United States. “He is known to speak Arabic. He has ties to, and may be located in, the countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria or Iran,” the FBI said in its declaration.

To gather information, the FBI has also put up posters on its websites in various languages including Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Pashto and Dari. The law enforcement agency has also offered a reward of up to one million dollars for information that could lead to the whereabouts of Hamza bin Laden. It further says that investigators believe Hamza bin Laden is married to the daughter of Al-Qaeda senior leader Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, aka Abu Muhammad al-Masri, who has been indicted for his alleged involvement in the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.

In March this year, the US State Department assessed that Hamza has emerged as the new leader of the militant group. It also claimed that Hamza bin Laden could be based near the Afghan-Pakistan border.

The department’s Counter Terrorism Rewards Programme has announced that Hamza bin Laden “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.”

The United Nations Security Council has already added Hamza bin Laden to its sanctions list. He’s subject to an assets freeze and travel ban. Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry has stripped him of his Saudi nationality.