"Our stand to grant refuge to Osama bin Laden was based on principles," he said.

He was granted refuge here in February of 2006.

He has failed to find another country that will grant him refuge.

In 1998 alone, the last year for which government officials have complete statistics, almost 100,000 people were granted asylum or refuge.

More than 800,000 aliens were granted refuge under this procedure before 1980.

Many countries have formal procedures for granting temporary refuge.

A formal process for granting temporary refuge would make these decisions on less fickle grounds.

Six days ago, he turned to the country he had fought asking for safe haven, and was granted refuge.

In large part, it said, the chance of being granted refuge may depend on which airport an asylum seeker uses.

In 217, he granted refuge to a thousand families from the Liaodong region.