Inspector-general of police Mohamad Fuzi Harun has clarified that acclaimed Turkish journalist Mustafa Akyol was not detained in Malaysia last week due to security reasons.

He said the police merely facilitated the arrest because Mustafa was being sought by the Federal Territories Islamic Department (Jawi) for "religious teaching" without accreditation.

"A lot of people blamed the police, which is not the truth at all... The operations were undertaken by the religious authorities.

"We facilitated the arrest. That is all. We are not the party interested in (him)," Fuzi (photo) told reporters in Putrajaya today.

Asked if the police viewed Mustafa as a security threat, Fuzi, who formerly headed the Special Branch, replied: "I don't think he is much of a threat."

Mustafa had speaking engagements in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 24 and 25.

Although he was able to speak on Sept 24, organisers decided to scrap the talk scheduled for Sept 25 after he was approached by Jawi officers.

All Mustafa's speaking engagements had to do with Islam or Muslim affairs.

In his column in New York Times four days ago, Mustafa recalled that after his arrest at KLIA, he was taken to two police stations, then to the Jawi headquarters and finally to a syariah court, where he was interrogated for hours.

Mustafa also revealed that his eventual release was due to diplomatic efforts by the Turkish Embassy, former Turkish president Abdullah Gul and an unnamed person from the Malaysian royalty.