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MISTAKE: Ahmed Mohamed's homemade clock was mistaken for a bomb

THE PRESIDENT of the United States has issued a White House invitation to a Muslim schoolboy who was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school.

The 14-year-old Texas school student from Irving, Texas, was arrested on Monday (Sept 14) after his teachers reported him to the police for making a clock, which they said resembled a bomb.

Ahmed Mohamed, an engineering enthusiast, brought the clock to MacArthur high school in to show one of his teachers his handy work.

Hours later, he was handcuffed and arrested by school resource officers as part of “standard procedure” after being summoned to a school office to explain the device.

At a press conference outside his home yesterday (Sept 16), after his story swept across the internet and drew messages of support from tech companies and the president of the United States, Ahmed told reporters: “I built the clock to impress my teacher, but when I showed it to her she thought it was a threat to her. It was really sad that she took a wrong impression of it.”

He said he was still suspended until today, and was thinking of transferring to a different school.

Wearing a NASA t-shirt, the teenager thanked his supporters on social media, as well as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

On Twitter, President Obama, tweeted: "Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great."

The White House said Ahmed was invited to participate in an astronomy night next month. Press secretary Josh Earnest said the Obama administration thought the boy was “failed” by his teachers and called the incident a “teachable moment”.

There was a cheer when Ahmed, who is of Sudanese heritage, announced that he would be visiting the White House.