Egyptian doctor Mohamed El-Hamshari, a member of the Arab Medical Union, was arrested and detained at Beirut's Rafik El-Hariri Airport on Saturday.

Television channel Al-Mannar, which is owned by Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah, said that Lebanese authorities had arrested El-Hamshari, along with two unidentified Syrian women, for entering the country in possession of illegal, highly advanced satellite-transmission devices that could potentially be set up on rooftops and used for live television broadcasts.

Al-Mannar's website reported that the two Syrian women accompanying El-Hamshari had planned to bring the devices into Syria from Lebanon. 

Colleagues of El-Hamshari explained through social media venues that the device the doctor had been carrying was used to strengthern internet signals as he was working in refugee camps in remote areas near the Lebanese-Syrian border where the internet connection is weak. They added that he had not been aware that the device was banned in Lebanon.  

There have also been unconfirmed reports that El-Hamshari could face military trial in Lebanon for possessing the device. 

However, according to leaks that have recently appeared online, El-Hamshari is likely to be released and deported on Monday. Activists in Egypt, meanwhile, are planning a rally at the Presidential Palace to show solidarity with El-Hamshari and demand intervention by President Mohamed Morsi.

The Arab Medical Union, headed by former presidential candidate and Strong Egypt Party leader Abdel Moneim Abul-Fotouh, condemned the arrest of El-Hamshari and demanded that the Lebanese authorities release him immediately.

El-Hamshari is a doctor of neurological and psychological disorders.

The Arab Medical Union is a major charity in Egypt, collecting donations to help Syrian refugees outside Syria and set up field hospitals in conflict zones such as Aleppo and Homs.