"We have been notified that there is an intention to appeal the courts decision. Legally speaking he won't be able to leave the country [until this process is completed]," said the department of international relations spokesperson Clayson Monyela on Thursday.

He confirmed that the United Arab Emirates authorities would keep Karabus's passport pending the outcome of the appeal.

Last Thursday, a UAE court acquitted Karabus of manslaughter and of falsifying documents after the death of a three-year-old Yemeni girl he treated for leukaemia in 2002.

The next day it was reported that Karabus would have to wait before returning home, as the prosecution in the UAE had 14 days to appeal the ruling.

Karabus, who is an emeritus professor at the University of Cape Town and a specialist paediatric oncologist, was charged and sentenced in absentia. On August 18, he was arrested in Dubai while in transit to South Africa from Toronto, Canada, where he had attended his son's wedding.

On Friday, Karabus said in a statement that he looked forward to returning to South Africa and celebrating his birthday, on Monday, with his family in Cape Town.

Monyela said that the appeal was a legal process to which Karabus would have to submit. "The appeal does not change the fact that [a UAE] medical review committee has absolved him of any responsibility for the death."

He said Karabus and his family were being given consular assistance. – Sapa