Saudi journo detained for 'blasphemous' tweets

A young Saudi journalist, who fled his country after making alleged blasphemous remarks on Twitter, has been detained by Malaysian authorities following a request from Interpol.

23-year-old Hamza Kashgari was picked up upon his arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Wednesday after he escaped from Saudi Arabia, Interpol sources said.

Kashgari, a columnist in a Saudi newspaper who is wanted by the government back home, posted alleged blasphemous remarks through social networking website Twitter, infuriating the Saudi people.

The Saudi writer -- who was on the Interpol's look out notice -- caused a firestorm when he posted a series of tweets last week, Malaysia's national news agency Bernama said.

Saudi users on Twitter were outraged, posting nearly 30,000 tweets on the issue in less than 24 hours.