Radical cleric asks to be left alone

In an email published today in a leading Lebanese newspaper, radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri, barred from Britain last week and briefly detained by Lebanese police, defended his actions and asked the media to leave him alone.

Mr Bakri, who founded the now-disbanded radical Islamic group al-Muhajiroun during his 20 years in Britain, asked Lebanese and foreign reporters and television crews to stop following him.