Karachi locals shout 'Death to Facebook', burn US flags

Karachi, May 22 (ANI): Pakistani protesters shouted "Death to Facebook", "Death to America" and burnt US flags on Friday, venting growing anger over "sacrilegious" caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) on the Internet.

The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) banned access to Facebook, YouTube and more than 450 links, including restricted access to Wikipedia in view of what it called "growing sacrilegious content".

PTA released a toll-free telephone number and email address, and has acted on complaints received by the regulator.

In Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, religious parties mobilised hundreds of protesters onto the streets to demand a ban on Facebook and an apology from the social networking site for humiliating Muslims.

Activists shouted slogans such as "Death to Facebook", "Death to America" and branded the United States the "root cause of all mischief" at the peaceful rallies.n Multan, a shrine city in Punjab province, hundreds of people rallied, burning US flags and tyres to block traffic before dispersing peacefully.

In the northwestern city of Peshawar, about 250 students and religious activists staged small protests, chanting "Death to Facebook, death to Youtube," and on one occasion torched a US flag. (ANI)