Omar Bakri Mohammed, the extremist Islamist cleric under police investigation in Britain for possible incitement to murder, has today been arrested by security forces in the Beirut.

Mr Bakri Mohammed was seized at just after 12.30pm as he left the seafront studios of Future TV, in the west of the Lebanese capital, where he had given a taped interview to the local news channel.

A spokesman for the station said that the 47-year-old spiritual leader of the al-Muhajiroun group was told that the General Security department wanted to question him regarding his entry to the country.

Mr Bakri Mohammed left Britain, where he has lived for 20 years, on a Lebanese passport at the weekend, reportedly to visit his ill mother.

He said yesterday that he planned to return to his home in North London, describing the visit - which came 24 hours after an announcement by Tony Blair of proposals to deport radical clerics - as a 'holiday' of between four and six weeks.

However the Government is investigating whether it has the power to prevent his return and John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, yesterday told reporters that he hoped Mr Bakri Mohammed's holiday would be a "long one."

The preacher provoked outrage last week when he said he would not inform police if he knew Muslims were planning a bomb attack and had reportedly lauded the July 7 London bombers as the "fantastic four".

Local news channels in Lebanon today said that Mr Bakri Mohammed had spent a short time at his parents' apartment before moving to a mountain house overlooking the capital.

The nature of the police questioning is unclear. It is not believed to be related to an ongoing investigation by British authorities, which could lead to his prosecution for treason and permanent exclusion from the UK. He can be held for up to 72 hours without charge.

Last night Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, said that he would refuse a request that had been received from the cleric to return to Britain for a heart operation on the NHS.

The cleric claimed to have an appointment at a London hospital for an operation to widen an artery which would cost up to £8,000 if he had to have private treatment. He said: "I have every right to come back. Britain is my home. My family are there and I have done nothing wrong."

Officials believe that Mr Bakri Mohammed is trying to test the Home Office’s promised immigration rules. His followers said yesterday that they might challenge any ban on medical grounds.

Senior officials said that the Home Secretary could exercise leniency if it were a life-or-death matter, but a routine operation was unlikely to be grounds for lifting any ban.

One said: "His heart condition was not serious enough to prevent him flying to Beirut last weekend and I am sure they have very fine hospitals in Lebanon where this procedure could be done".

Mr Bakri Mohammed, who has collected up to £300,000 in various benefits during his 19 years in Britain, had been given leave to remain indefinitely after claiming that his life would be in danger if he returned to the Middle East.

He says that he is suffering from a congenital heart problem and has had to postpone a number of appointments. The Syrian-born cleric says his treatment is scheduled for November or December.

By then the new rules will be in place which gives the Home Secretary powers to exclude extremists on the grounds they foster hatred that may lead to intra-community violence.

His followers are keeping their leader up to date with the latest announcements by senior legal officials, such as Ken MacDonald, QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, who says he is discussing with the police "possible offences of solicitation to murder."

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