Saudi Journalist Detained for Insulting Prophet on Twitter

Malaysian police have arrested a 23-year-old Saudi journalist for allegedly posting a blasphemous tweet on the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammad.

Hamza Kashgari, who works as a newspaper columnist in Saudi, tweeted on Saturday: I have loved things about you and I have hated things about you and there is a lot I don't understand about you. I will not pray for you, according to the AFP.

The tweet has raised a massive hue and cry. Kashgari received more than 30,000 responses and even several death threats.

He promptly apologized and removed the controversial tweet from the social networking site. His Twitter page has not been existing since then, though it isn't clear if he deleted it voluntarily.

Saudi clerics and the king were clearly not happy with the incident, as the latter ordered the journalist's detention.

Malaysian authorities refused to divulge the details of the arrest and didn't say why Kashgari flew to Kuala Lumpur following the incident. It remains unclear whether he flew in from Saudi, though Twitter speculation is rife that he was fleeing his country.

Though Malaysia is a Muslim-majority country, it doesn't have an extradition treaty with Saudi.

Blasphemy is an offense that is punishable by death in Saudi.