Osama bin Laden's bodyguard detained in Germany

A suspected Islamist radical who once served as Osama bin Laden's bodyguard, was detained in Germany on Monday, police said.

The case of the Tunisian man, Sami A, sparked outrage in April after German media reported that he was receiving welfare benefits even though intelligence agencies have classified him as a potential threat.

Authorities in the western city of Bochum had asked police to detain Sami A. and the man did not resist, a spokesman for police there said.

Top-selling newspaper Bild reported, without citing its sources, that Sami A. was now due to be deported.

Police could not confirm that, pointing instead to authorities in Bochum. A spokesperson for the city of Bochum could not be immediately reached.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has ordered immigration authorities to expedite proceedings that would allow Germany to deport Sami A.

German authorities have been trying to deport the man, who has lived in the northwestern city of Bochum since 1997, since 2006 but the threat of torture in his home country had prevented this, according to a previous report in Bild.