Buenos Aires, Argentina: An Argentine judge ordered the arrest of pop star Justin Bieber if he sets foot in the country after the Canadian singer failed to face questions about an alleged assault at a Buenos Aires nightclub in 2013, his court secretary said on Friday.

A local photographer, Diego Pesoa, accused Bieber and one of his bodyguards of lashing out at him when he tried to take a picture of the star as he left the club in the capital's trendy Palermo Hollywood neighbourhood.

Entertainment website FarandulaShow (www.farandulaShow.com) posted a copy of the court ruling ordering Bieber be detained on its web page. Court secretary Soledad Nieto, a co-signatory of the order paper, confirmed the document was authentic.

‘I consider it pertinent to order the immediate detention of the accused,’ read Judge Alberto Julio Banos' order, which is dated 8 April.

The court also ordered the detention of one of Bieber's bodyguards.

In November, another local judge magistrate had ordered Bieber to appear for questioning within two months over the same alleged incident and requested the assistance of Argentina's Interpol branch to help locate the 21-year-old.

Bieber has had a string of run-ins with the law in several countries.

Bieber's representatives did not immediately reply to a request for comment.