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The head of Britain’s main Muslim TV station was freed by a court in South Africa yesterday after being detained because he is still wanted by Interpol for alleged terrorism.

Lawyers for Mohamed Ali Harrath, 46, are now expected to go to court to challenge what they see as his wrongful arrest when he arrived in Johannesburg on a flight from London on Sunday.

Mr Harrath’s Islam Channel accused his native Tunisia of misleading Interpol resulting in a worldwide request in 1992 to arrest him over terrorism, forgery and arms allegations.

“There’s just a feeling that injustice has been done. This was an issue from 20 years ago, a political matter that happened back in Tunisia. I was fighting for justice and I am proud of what I did,” he told South Africa Press Association after being released. “I consider myself as a friend of South Africa, who knows more than anyone about injustice.”

As a young man, Mr Harrath helped found the Tunisian Islamic Front which opposed what he regarded as his country’s one-party rule.

Tunis accused the organisation of seeking to establish a Muslim state by armed revolution but he insists it was a non-violent political party.

He fled to Britain which accepted him as a refugee. His Islam Channel is watched by 59 per cent of British Muslims and he has been courted by senior politicians of all parties. He became an adviser to Scotland Yard against Islamic extremism. In September the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, gave him a platform to address thousands of Muslims in Trafalgar Square at the city’s celebrations for the end of Ramadan.

He has been fighting for years to remove the Interpol Red Notice, its highest state of alert.

South Africa is one of 132 countries where Islam Channel is available. Mr Harrath is seeking investment deals and wants to move most of his production there. “I was also supposed to set up a call centre,” he said. “My plan is to create hundreds of jobs here.”

Musa Zondi, a police spokesman, told The Times: “We followed the Interpol procedure and detained this man because he was red-flagged.

“For the case to proceed we asked Tunisia for further information on him and for them to direct us but they did not come back to us. Because the Tunisians did not respond we were left with no option but to free him.

“It is an odd case. Perhaps the Tunisians have no evidence against this man or perhaps there is no longer any political desire for him to be returned there.

“Either way, from our side we were simply doing our job and following the letter of the law. It is something we would do again, should the occasion arise, although not necessarily with this poor man.”

Iqbal Jassat, chairman of the Media Review Network, an Islamic rights organisation which has been advising the TV channel, said: “He is planning to head back home to his family in the UK.”

Earlier yesterday Mr Harrath was moved from a hospital in Pretoria to police cells. He was hospitalized on Sunday because he fell ill shortly after his arrest. He is expected to return to Britain on Thursday “Mr Harrath was released as there was no evidence against him and no extradition treaty exists between South Africa and Tunisia,” a statement from his TV station said.

“Mr Harrath’s lawyers in South Africa will be challenging the validity of his arrest in the High Court, as they strongly believe it was unlawful.”