Mr Bouziane has 16 children in France

Abdelkader Bouziane, an imam from Lyon, was arrested near his home and sent to Algeria on Tuesday, a day after a court ruled he could be expelled.

He was originally deported in April, but the decision was overruled and he was allowed to return.

In an interview, Mr Bouziane had endorsed wife-beating, declared he was polygamous, and expressed the wish that "the entire world become Muslim".

The 52-year-old Algerian told a Lyon newspaper earlier this year that violence against unfaithful wives was justified by the Koran.

CLERIC'S EXPULSION 21 April: Abdelkader Bouziane deported to Algeria 23 and 26 April: Deportation order suspended by two courts 22 May: Returns to France 4 October: Council of State rules deportation legal 5 October: Bouziane flown to Algeria

The government accused him of inciting violence, and used a new directive aimed at stamping out Islamic fundamentalism to have him deported to Algeria.

But a French tribunal ruled the original expulsion illegal because Mr Bouziane had not been charged and was not allowed to defend himself.

He returned to France, where he has 16 children by two wives, all with French nationality.

The government appealed to the Council of State, France's highest administrative court. On Monday it ruled that the cleric could be thrown out of France after all.

Outcry

He was arrested on Tuesday and put on a flight to Oran, in Algeria.

Mr Bouziane's remarks on wife-beating caused an outcry in France, with many Muslim lawyers condemning them as un-Islamic.

France has admitted imams from other countries to ensure that its 5m Muslim communities have enough prayer leaders.

But the BBC's Caroline Wyatt in Paris says recently the French authorities and moderate Muslims have become worried that some are preaching a strict or fundamentalist form of Islam.

President Jacques Chirac has said he is willing to modify immigration law so France can deport those it fears are stirring up hatred.

Mr Bouziane is the fourth imam this year to be deported from France.