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Malaysian police detained a Saudi columnist who fled Saudi Arabia after his tweets about the Prophet Muhammad touched off public calls for his execution, Malaysia's state news agency reported on Thursday.

The writer, Hamza Kashgari, was detained on arrival on Wednesday at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the Bernama news agency said, citing what it said were sources at Interpol.

Saudi Arabia was believed to be awaiting Mr. Kashgari's repatriation, according to Bernama. The Saudi government has made no official comment since announcing early in the week that Mr. Kashgari had been banned from writing for publication and would be subject to legal action.

Mr. Kashgari, a 23-year-old newspaper columnist from the coastal city of Jeddah, tweeted a series of musings on Saturday about an imagined meeting with the Prophet Muhammad.

Some religious conservatives in Saudi Arabia seized on the messages, describing them as a curse against the founder of Islam and calling for the public to demand punishment.

Campaigns in Saudi Arabia on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook drew thousands of supporters demanding Mr. Kashgari's execution. Some tweets included fatwas, or religious rulings, calling for Mr. Kashgari's death, despite his tweeted apologies.

Fearing for his safety, Mr. Kashgari left the kingdom sometime Monday or Tuesday, associates said.

Saudi newspapers later reported that King Abdullah had ordered Mr. Kashgari's arrest and an investigation.

The Malaysian report didn't make clear the legal grounds for the writer's detention. While some clerics this week said Mr. Kashgari's statements amounted to capital offenses under Saudi Arabia's Shariah law, at least one cleric called his words forgivable.

Mr. Kashgari spoke to The Daily Beast website on Wednesday, the site reported, hours after his arrival in what the news site described as Southeast Asia. The website quoted Mr. Kashgari as saying he was afraid and would seek asylum.

Mr. Kashgari said he believed the episode served a purpose, according to the website. "I was demanding my right to practice the most basic human rights—freedom of expression and thought—so nothing was done in vain," he was quoted as saying. Mr. Kashgari couldn't be reached to comment for this article - WSJ