Exiled radical preacher Omar Bakri has appealed to the British authorities to rescue him from war-torn Lebanon.
The controversial Muslim cleric, who left Britain last August, said he was turned away from a Royal Navy ship as he tried to board and a letter he wrote to the British Embassy in Beirut last week has also gone unanswered.
Mr Bakri claims he wants to be allowed to either return to the UK on a one-month visa, or to be helped to travel to Cyprus where he can meet his family.
He said: "I know controversy surrounds all the news about me, I am myself accepting my destiny. But I have the right like anybody else to look for safety."
After Mr Bakri's sudden departure last August, the then Home Secretary Charles Clarke revoked his indefinite leave to remain.
He said the presence of Mr Bakri, who made an inflammatory statement about the September 11 terrorist attacks, was "not conducive to the public good".
Mr Bakri added: "I am not appealing now against the decision to give me the right to stay in Britain. I am not appealing for that.
"I am appealing on behalf of my children who are worried and they want to see their own father."
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said Mr Bakri was the "subject of an exclusion order and that will be implemented."
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .....
Well done, good news that they wouldn't let the scumbag board the ship .. let him get his Taliban mates to rescue him .. I hope he gets blown to pieces by a stray, or well aimed, shell
If his family want to see him that bad, let them bog off over there to see him, imo. ;)