Bin Laden's son Omar may go to New Zealand, says wife

NEW Zealand immigration officials will not comment on reports the son of Osama bin Laden may be considering a move there after being refused entry to Spain and Britain. Mr bin Laden and his wife arrived in Egypt from Madrid on Saturday after Spanish authorities refused his request for asylum last week.

The couple, who lived in Egypt for several months in 2007 and 2008, have also been denied entry to Britain. Airport sources in Egypt said Mr bin Laden, who says he does not support violence, had asked to go to Qatar, where as a Saudi citizen he would have right of entry. British authorities have denied him a visa and the Spanish interior ministry rejected his asylum plea on the grounds that it did not consider he was in danger in Egypt.

The Saudi-born 27-year-old is one of the 19 children of the infamous fugitive founder of the al-Qaeda terror group. His British-born wife, Zaina al Sabah, has been reported as saying the couple wanted to go to New Zealand. Immigration New Zealand said today it did not comment on individual cases and could not confirm whether Mr bin Laden had applied for a visa, the New Zealand Press Association reports. Ms Sabah called the Spanish decision "political" and said the couple had been trying to raise money to fly to New Zealand.

She did not say whether they hoped to stay. Mr bin Laden is the fourth child from Osama bin Laden's first marriage. His 52-year-old wife, whom he married in 2007, changed her name from Jane Felix-Browne. Mr bin Laden says he has not spoken to his father since 2000, when he decided to leave a training camp in Afghanistan with his consent.

Ms Sabah told Reuters last week that the couple feared they would be assassinated for condemning the views of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Mr bin Laden had lodged another request for a British visa but this would not be considered until February 2009, his wife said.