The Tunisian man who once protected Osama bin Laden has been claiming benefits in Germany for years. Authorities say they are powerless to deport him to Tunisia at the moment.
Image: Matthias Graben/WAZ
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The government of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) said on Tuesday it was not possible to deport a former bodyguard of slain terrorist Osama bin Laden, who is currently living in the state, because of fears that he could be tortured or treated badly in his homeland.
The man, identified as Sami A. in accordance with German privacy laws, has been living in the western German city of Bochum for more than a decade.
He remains ineligible for deportation, the state government said in response to a query by two members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the state legislature.
The authorities referred to a court decision in April 2017, which found that the 42-year-old man faced "the considerable likelihood" of "torture and inhumane or degrading treatment" if he were to be deported to Tunisia.
NRW's minister for refugee affairs, Joachim Stamp, said Sami A. would likely remain in Germany, unless Tunisia assured that the ex-bodyguard will not be threatened with torture or death upon his return.
Germany's efforts to get these assurances have not yet yielded results.
Sami A., who first arrived in Germany in 1997 as a student, reportedly spent 1999 and 2000 in an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan, where he received military training while serving as one of bin Laden's bodyguards. He denies the charge and claims to have been studying in Karachi, Pakistan, during that time.
Sami A. continues to be classified as a security risk due to his past links to terrorism. He is required to report daily to a police station, German daily Bild said.
In its answer to the AfD inquiry, the NRW government confirmed that Sami A. gets €1,168 ($1,429) each month in welfare payments.
He lives with his wife and children, who have German citizenship.
The attempted bomb attack at the Bonn train station in 2012 led to one of the highest-profile terror trials in Germany. Here's a look at some other major trials involving Islamist extremists in Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Marks
Failed Bonn bomb
The blue bag left on the platform at Bonn's central station in 2012 contained explosives that did not go off, but a city-wide manhunt unfolded. Marco G. was eventually arrested and charged with planting the bomb. Three others are charged with plotting to assassinate a politician from the far-right PRO-NRW party. Their group allegedly drew inspration from an Islamist movement in Uzbekistan.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Frankfurt airport bus attack
In March 2011, Arid Uka shot dead two US servicemen waiting for a bus at Frankfurt airport prior to deployment in Afghanistan. "This is indeed the first Islamic-motivated terror strike to have happened in Germany," the judge said, adding Uka had sought revenge for military operations in Afghanistan. Uka, born in Kosovo, acted alone and was sentenced to life in prison in February 2012.
Image: AP
The Sauerland Cell
The "Sauerland Cell" was a German cell of the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), a terrorist group on the Pakistani-Afghan border. The four German and Turkish men had planned large-scale bomb attacks against American targets in Germany from their base in the western region of the Sauerland. Arrested in September 2007, they were sentenced in March 2010 for up to 12 years.
Image: AP
Sharia Police
Sven Lau, a Salafist Muslim, was the man behind a well-known Islamist publicity stunt. In 2014, Lau led several men around the city of Wuppertal in orange security vests labeled "Sharia police." Acting as state authorities, they warned people visiting local clubs and bars to adhere to Sharia, or Islamic law. He is currently on trial for backing a terror group fighting in Syria.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Bildfunk/M. Becker
Big mouth
Nils D., a Salafist from Dinslaken, joined the "Islamic State" in Syria in October 2013. He tracked down the group's deserters - armed with explosives and guns. He returned to Germany a year later, and boastful statements about his time in Syria eventually got him arrested. He confessed the names of other German Islamic extremists and was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail.
Image: DW/M. Gopalakrishnan
"Biggest mistake of my life"
On the final day of Harry S.'s July 2016 trial, he said "going to Syria was the biggest mistake of my life." The Bremen-born Muslim convert spent three months with "Islamic State" in Syria in 2015. He wanted out after civilians were murdered for a short recruitment film he helped make. He was sentenced to three years in jail for being part of a foreign terrorist organization.
