Lebanese authorities have arrested a fugitive radical Sunni preacher as he was trying to leave the country, officials say.

Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir was detained at Beirut airport early on Saturday.

He had been on the run since clashes with the Lebanese army in 2013, which left at least 17 soldiers dead.

The cleric organised followers to fight alongside rebels in Syria in response to Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia group which backs President Bashar al-Assad.

Sheikh Assir is wanted over an incident in June 2013 in which one of his men was caught with unauthorised weapons in his car at a military checkpoint in Sidon, 40km (28 miles) south of the capital, Beirut.