"It is confirmed that Malaysian police have detained
the Saudi writer. This arrest was part of an Interpol operation which the
Malaysian police were a part of," a police spokesman told Reuters on
Friday.
He gave no further details and would not comment on whether
the writer, Hamza Kashghari, would be extradited to Saudi Arabia.
The 23-year-old Kashgari reportedly posted the comments on
his Twitter feed on Saturday, drawing thousands of outraged comments on Twitter
and other social networking sites.
Kashgari later said in an interview that he was being made a
"scapegoat for a larger conflict" over his comments.
"I view my actions as part of a process toward
freedom," Kashgari was quoted as saying in the interview with the Daily
Beast website.
"I was demanding my right to practice the most basic
human rights — freedom of expression and thought - so nothing was done in
vain."
