Following Pak, Bangladesh 'blocks Facebook' over political cartoons

Dhaka, May 30 (ANI): Close on the heels of Pakistan blocking access to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, Bangladesh has blocked access to Facebook after satirical images of the Prophet Muhammad and the country's leaders were uploaded.

Government officials termed the ban as temporary and said access to the site would be restored once the images were removed.

A Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) spokesman was quoted by a news agency as saying that the country's religious sentiments had been hurt by Facebook.

The official said Facebook had also put up obnoxious images of the father of the nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Leader of Opposition Khaleda Zia.

On Saturday, a man was arrested by the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Dhaka and charged with uploading the images.

Last week, Pakistan had blocked all access to Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia and Flickr.

The blocking of the site followed protests on Friday. (ANI)