Hamza Bin Laden, a son of late al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden seen as a rising jihadist leader, has been stripped of his Saudi citizenship, state newspaper Umm al-Qura said Friday. Bin Laden had his citizenship removed on February 22 by royal decree, the Saudi newspaper said, quoting the kingdom's interior ministry.
It did not give a reason for the decision. The US on Thursday offered a $1 million (0.9 million euros) reward for information on Hamza bin Laden, who it sees as an emerging face of extremism. Al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States killed some 3,000 people and sparked the US intervention in Afghanistan.
Bin Laden, who according to Washington is around 30, has threatened attacks against the US to avenge the 2011 killing of his father - who was living in hiding in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad - by US special forces. "Since at least August 2015, he has released audio and video messages on the Internet calling on his followers to launch attacks against the United States and its Western allies," the US State Department said in a statement on Thursday.