BREAKING NEWS

Malaysia arrests Saudi blogger over Prophet Mohammad tweets

By REUTERS

FEBRUARY 10, 2012 06:28

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian police have arrested a Saudi Arabian columnist who fled his country after making comments on Twitter deemed insulting to the Prophet Mohammad, prompting a surge of online outrage and calls for his execution.

"It is confirmed that Malaysian police have detained the Saudi writer. This arrest was part of an Interpol operation which the Malaysian police were a part of," a police spokesman told Reuters on Friday.

He gave no further details and would not comment on whether the writer, Hamza Kashgari, would be extradited to Saudi Arabia, where some Islamic clerics have called for him to be put to death for his comments.

Malaysia is a majority Muslim country with a close affinity with many Middle Eastern nations through their shared religion. The Southeast Asian nation is also a US ally and a leading global voice for moderate Islam, meaning that any decision to extradite Kashgari certain to be controversial.

Blasphemy is a crime punishable by execution under oil-rich Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law. It is not a capital crime in Malaysia.

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