A personal bodyguard of US R&B star Beyonce was held for questioning in Croatia on Thursday after being caught on film clashing with a cameraman in the coastal resort of Dubrovnik, police said.

The Croatian police action came after footage of the paparazzi battle in the narrow streets of Dubrovnik, a medieval port known as the pearl of the Adriatic Sea, was broadcast on television.

Police said they seized the passport of the bodyguard, a 31-year-old Dutch national, as a precaution before ordering him to attend a magistrates' court for a "breach of public order."

The guard was reportedly detained on the luxurious 47-metre (154-foot) yacht on which Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z were cruising the Adriatic coast during their vacation since the start of this week.

The boat was intercepted off the southern island of Korcula, said the website of the newspaper Jutarnji List.

The cameraman, 57-year-old Dragan Banovic, had filed a complaint against the unnamed Dutchman, but was himself taken in for questioning over the incident, said a police statement.

In the footage of the skirmish, Banovic was seen striking the guard on the back with a tripod after the bodyguard knocked down the journalist's camera and laid into him.

The guard was later filmed hurling the tripod into the sea. Both were released after being quizzed before the magistrates court.

Pictures of Beyonce -- named the world's fourth most powerful celebrity by Forbes magazine in June -- holidaying have been a big hit with the Croatian press.

Source: AFP