Lebanon Frees Cleric Banned by Britain

Lebanon freed radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed on Friday, hours after Britain declared that it would not allow his return.

Lebanon’s prosecutor general, Judge Said Mirza, said he had ordered Bakri’s release after it appeared “that he has not committed any crime and there are no criminal records against him.”

It was not immediately clear where Bakri was headed after his release from the General Security building in East Beirut.

General Security officers arrested Bakri on Thursday, five days after he had flown to Lebanon on holiday from Britain, where he lived for the last 20 years.

Britain said Friday that it had barred the cleric from returning because his presence was “not conducive to the public good.”

Bakri, 45, holds Syrian and Lebanese citizenship.

He recently said he would not inform police if he knew Muslims were planning attacks such as the July 7 suicide bombings in London that killed 56 people including the four attackers.

In an interview with Lebanon’s Future TV, recorded minutes before his arrest, Bakri said he was being targeted for his political views. He denied any link to any group of terrorists.

In Britain, Bakri founded the now-disbanded radical Islamic group Al Muhajiroun, which had come under official scrutiny.

In an interview published in the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Anba, Bakri condemned the Sept. 11 attacks, saying he condoned violence only to resist foreign occupation.