U.S. Adds Osama Bin Laden’s Son to Terrorism Blacklist

Hamilton Nwosa
Writer

Ad

Tinubu Departs Brazil for Nigeria After State Visit

By Abiola Olawale President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has concluded a three-day state visit to Brazil, departing the country for Abuja on Wednesday, August 27, 2025. The New Diplomat reports that the presidential jet took off from Brasília International Airport Air Force Base, with a ceremonial send-off attended by Brazil’s Secretary for Africa and the Middle…

President’s son jailed 6 years in fraud case as power tussle soars in Equatorial Guinea

• Two brothers at war over who succeeds Nguema Mbasogo By Obinna Uballa An Equatorial Guinea court has sentenced Ruslan Obiang Nsue, son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, to six years in prison for illegally selling a plane belonging to the state airline, Ceiba Intercontinental, a case analysts say reflects growing rivalry within the…

Details: Why Roosevelt Ogbonna Quit Access HoldCo board

• He remains Bank MD, Says Access By Obinna Uballa Access Holdings Plc has explained that Mr. Roosevelt Ogbonna, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc, resigned from the Board of the HoldCo to comply with regulatory guidelines issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The company, in a statement signed…

Ad

Hamza bin Laden, a son of Osama bin Laden, has been officially designated a global terrorist by the United States.

Hamza, who is now in his late 20s, was named an official member of al-Qaeda in 2015 and is seen as a possible successor to his father.

Since then, he has called for attacks against western capitals.

The US State Department said it was notifying the international community that “Hamza bin Laden is actively engaged in terrorism”.

The official sanction blocks him from any business dealings with US companies or holding property on US soil.

‘Charismatic, popular’

Hamza is the son of the former al-Qaeda leader and Khairiah Sabar, one of Osama’s wives who was captured during the 2011 raid on his father’s Abbotabad compound in Pakistan.

Hamza was not in the compound with his parents during the raid, in which Osama Bin Laden was killed.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, an eye surgeon who helped found the Egyptian Islamic Jihad militant group, took over leadership of al-Qaeda after his death.

In August, Professor Fawaz Gerges, an expert on Middle East politics, told BBC Radio 4 that Hamza was “the new face of al-Qaeda – he is charismatic, he is very popular with the rank and file”.

“He was his father’s favourite son – everyone, even for the last ten years, has been talking about Hamza succeeding his father.”

In 2015, al-Qaeda released an audio message from Hamza, which called on followers in Kabul, Baghdad and Gaza to wage jihad, or holy war, on Washington, London, Paris and Tel Aviv.

He now joins his half-brother Saad on the US sanctions list as a “specially designated global terrorist” – someone who threatens national security or the safety of US citizens.

The US State Department said the sanction was a “powerful tool.”

Individuals and groups sanctioned under the programme range from offshoots of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) to the so-called Islamic State, among thousands of others.

Ad

X whatsapp