Video: Man held in Saudi Arabia for claiming to be prophet

Saudi authorities arrested a Yemeni man claiming to be a prophet just as he tried to cross the border to his country along with thousands other expatriates deported from the Gulf Kingdom under a seven-month government amnesty this year.

A You-Tube film showed Saudi border guards holding the man and hanging a banner he was carrying around his neck.

“I am Diaa the prophet…I am a messenger of God,” the banner read, according to the Saudi Arabic language daily Sabq, which said the man also spoke incomprehensible language to the police.

In July 2011, a Saudi was arrested by the police at the Grand Mosque in Makkah after he mounted a prayers platform and falsely claimed that he was a prophet and their saviour.

The 36-year-old man, identified as Sami, mounted the podium to deliver his brief speech. “I am Al Mehdi Al Montathar…I am a prophet sent (by God) to save and guide you,” he told the packed hall before was overpowered by police, Saudi Arabia's 'Okaz' newspaper had said.

There have been a series of incidents involving persons claiming to be Al-Mehdi Al-Montathar (the Chosen Imam Al-Mehdi) at Islamic holy sites in Makkah.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.