A man was reportedly held by police for 12 hours after receiving a text message claiming to be from Osama bin Laden.

The Filipino immigrant was only released when community leaders in Belgium intervened and assured officers it was a joke.

Police had checked the man's address book, suspecting him of being part of bin Laden's network.

They found the text message on his phone after detaining him for routine questioning following the US terror attacks.

It read: "I was wondering if I can stay with you for a couple of days. Everybody's so angry at me. And I really need a friend. Yours truly, Osama bin Laden."

Father Apolo de Guzman, a chaplain for the Filipino community in Brussels, said: "A lot of us received the text message from friends in the Philippines. We explained to the police it was a joke. Eventually they believed us."