Osama's son stripped of Saudi citizenship

Saudi Arabia has stripped Osama bin Laden's son Hamza of his citizenship after the US put a million-dollar bounty on his head; Hamza is also with al-Qaeda.

A file image of Hamza bin Laden

Hamza bin Laden. Source: AAP

Saudi Arabia has stripped citizenship from Hamza bin Laden, the son of slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the interior ministry says in a statement published by the official gazette Umm Al Qura.

The US State Department said on Thursday it was offering a reward of up to $US1 million for information leading "to the identification or location in any country" of Hamza, calling him a key al-Qaeda leader.

The deparment said Hamza has climbed the ranks of al-Qaeda.

Hamza has released several online messages since August 2015 calling for attacks on the US and its allies, a statement from the State Department said.

The threats are meant as revenge for the 2011 killing of his father, according to the statement, which was released on Thursday.

US soldiers killed Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011, inside the compound that the al-Qaeda chief had been using as hideout for years in the northern Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

The younger bin Laden was placed on a terrorist list by the US in early 2017. Since then, any assets he may have in that country have been frozen and US firms and individuals are banned from doing business with him.


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Source: AAP


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