BREAKING NEWS

Sources: Saudi Arabia frees man jailed for Mohammad tweets

RIYADH - A Saudi blogger jailed in 2012 for publishing an imaginary conversation with Islam's Prophet Mohammad on Twitter walked free early on Tuesday, his friend and a lawyer said, though there was no comment from the government.
Hamza Kashgari fled Saudi Arabia for Malaysia in February last year after his tweets enraged some conservative Muslims and triggered death threats. He was extradited back to the kingdom days later and imprisoned.
"He was freed this morning," the 24-year-old's friend told Reuters, 20 months after the detention, but declined to comment further.
Prominent human rights lawyer Abdulrahman Allahim congratulated Kashgari on his release on Twitter.
Saudi Arabia's Justice Ministry was not immediately available for comment and there were no details on what led up to the release.