Mohammed served the terrorist group during the 1990s when they controlled Afghanistan. It was reported that he met deceased Taliban leader Osama bin Laden on several occasions and has sought asylum in Europe previously.
Mohammed and his family obtained asylum in Norway in 2000, justifying his request by claiming that he was critical of how the fundamentalists were operating in Kabul, and that he was at odds with Taliban leadership. He was deported in 2014, after several young Muslims arrested on terror charges, reportedly cited him as their inspiration.
He told Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, at the time, "They have no proof that I pose a security risk…If Norway or Norwegian soldiers are in danger, Abdul Rauf Mohammad would be the first to help them and defend Norway. Norway is my second homeland. Norway helped me when I was in a dangerous situation," according to a translation by News In English.
After the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) rejected his German application, Mohammed was returned to Riyadh, where reports have him traveling to Afghanistan.
A German Interior Ministry spokesperson told newspaper Die Welt that the country is seeing a growing number of Afghan refugees claiming to be former Taliban fighters to avoid deportation.
"This claim could lead to federal prosecutors opening an investigation on suspicion of supporting a foreign terror organization," they said.
A plane containing 35 rejected asylum seekers left Frankfurt Thursday, headed for Kabul, in the first of the government’s new “collective deportations" program. One of the passengers, 22-year-old Babur Sedik, spent four years in Germany but stated that he was going to try his luck in relatively stable Kabul.
"But if the security situation doesn’t improve and I don’t find work, then I won’t have a choice — I’ll have to flee again. Or I’ll go to Pakistan or some other country." he told The Local.
