Saudi dissident allowed to stay in UK

Mohamed al-Masari, the Saudi dissident, is to be allowed to stay in Britain for two years, it was disclosed last night, in spite of the Government's efforts to have him expelled.

The Home Office is today expected to tell Mr Masari, 49, that he will be given exceptional leave to stay, although he has not been granted asylum in Britain.

Attempts to remove Mr Masari from Britain caused a row over allegations that it followed intense pressure on ministers from the Saudi royal family, against whom Mr Masari has been waging a propaganda campaign.

An immigration appeals judge last month called on Michael Howard, the Home Secretary, to reconsider the deportation order against Mr Masari. David Pearl, the Chief Immigration Adjudicator, accused the Government of attempting to circumvent the 1951 International Convention on Refugees for "diplomatic and trade reasons".

The about-face is likely to prove a deep embarrassment to the Government and particularly Mr Howard, who has been keen to show a hard line on immigration and deportation policy.

Last January, the Prime Minister defended the decision to deport Mr Masari, saying he had abused British hospitality and that Britain "should not give comfort to those who seek to undermine the Saudi government".

Mr Masari won a court battle last year to stop the Home Office from deporting him to Yemen, where he argued he would be in danger. The Government then came up with a plan to deport him to Dominica. The Dominican government agreed to accept him, in return for favourable trade terms for its banana exports.

The Government will now be keenly examining the impact of today's announcement on trade arrangements with the Saudis. Ministers and defence contractors across the UK are concerned the Saudi government will scotch the pounds 20bn Al Yamamah arms deal.

Mr Masari said last night that he was due to meet Home Office officials at 3.30pm this afternoon. "I don't know what that meeting is about. I received a letter on 4 April, inviting me to a meeting, and my lawyer has been trying for the past two weeks to find out what that meeting is about. There is no point in speculating what the purpose of the meeting will be."