POLICE apprehended a Sri Lankan visitor in Oban after it was alleged he had accessed extremist Islamic websites in a public library in Tarbert on Harris.

The man also allegedly accessed terror websites after logging on to the public computer over a two-day period.

He was spotted by a member of the public, who reported him to the police.

The tourist, who had travelled to the island by ferry, had left before police could talk to him. He had taken a ferry from Harris to Berneray, and travelled through North Uist before catching the ferry to Oban.

Police in the Western Isles checked the websites that had been searched and contacted their counterparts in Oban, who apprehended the man and questioned him.

A police spokesman said: ''We were contacted by a concerned and well-meaning member of the public who was worried at the nature of the websites being accessed.''

''They were allegedly of a fundamentalist Islamic nature. We have traced as many as we can and we do not believe any criminal offence has been committed at this stage.''