Saudi journalist detained for Muhammad tweets freed 29 October 2013 Last updated at 10:28 A Saudi journalist detained after writing posts on Twitter deemed insulting to the Prophet Muhammad has been released, his friends and activists say. Hamza Kashgari fled Saudi Arabia to Malaysia in February 2012 after his posts angered conservative Muslims and he received death threats. He was extradited by Malaysia days later and detained by the Saudi authorities, reportedly on blasphemy charges. The Saudi justice ministry has not yet commented on Mr Kashgari's release. The former columnist for the Jeddah-based al-Bilad newspaper issued a public apology after deleting the tweets, saying: "I have made a mistake, and I hope Allah and all those whom I have offended will forgive me." On the occasion of the Prophet Muhammad's birthday, Mr Kashgari wrote: "I have loved things about you and I have hated things about you and there is a lot I don't understand about you. I will not pray for you. News of Mr Kashgari's release first emerged on social networking websites and was later confirmed by friends and the prominent human rights activist Waleed Abu al-Khair. "The authorities freed Kashgari at 06:30 (03:30 GMT)," he told the AFP news agency. Prosecutors never made public any formal charges against him. However, Interior Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja said at the time that Mr Kashgari's tweets had made him weep and King Abdullah demanded he be held accountable. Saudi Arabia applies the death penalty to a wide range of offences, including blasphemy and apostasy.