Thursday, August 11 2005 19:54 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beirut: Radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, who faces possible treason charges in Britain, was detained by Lebanese police today (Aug 11, 2005), security sources said.

Bakri, who holds a Lebanese passport, was detained as he entered a television studio in Beirut where he was due to be interviewed, they said.

The cleric arrived in Lebanon on Saturday after sparking outrage in Britain for saying he would not hand over to police Muslims planning to plant bombs.

Bakri left Britain barely 24 hours after Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged a crackdown on hardline Islamists in the wake of the July 7 suicide bombings in the London and the failed copycat attempt two weeks later.

Since then, speculation has mounted that Bakri and other extremist preachers could face a range of criminal charges from treason to incitement to kill.

It was not immediately clear why Bakri was detained in Lebanon, but the United Arab Emirates yesterday denied reports he was in the emirate of Sharjah by saying that he was blacklisted and could not enter the country.

Bakri, founder and spiritual leader of the now defunct Al-Muhajiroun organization, is one of Britain's best known -- many would say notorious -- radical Muslim clerics.