BERLIN: German authorities deported a former aide to al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden to his native Tunisia on Friday, despite a court ruling blocking the move.
Sami A., whose last name wasn’t given due to privacy laws, was flown to Tunis on a charter aircraft and handed over to Tunisian authorities, Germany’s interior ministry spokeswoman Annegret Korff said.
An administrative court in the western city of Gelsenkirchen had ruled Thursday that the man should remain in Germany until the government receives guarantees he won’t face torture in his homeland. But the fax informing authorities about the court’s decision was sent on Friday morning — after the man had already landed in Tunisia.
He had lived for several years with his wife and children in the western city of Bochum. The 42-year-old, described as a former bodyguard to the al-Qaida chief, was deemed to be a dangerous Islamist by German authorities and taken into custody in June.
