11/28/2004 GMT
Source: AP
Pakistani authorities banned the latest issue of Newsweek magazine saying it had an article that was offensive to Islam, Pakistan’s local media has reported.
A Pakistani official ordered the "forfeiture of all copies of the weekly Newsweek of November 22," the state-run agency Associated Press of Pakistan reported Friday, quoting Tariq Mahmoud Bajwa, a government official in Islamabad.
According to the agency, the edition published "objectionable remarks which (were) tantamount to desecration of the Qur’an," Islam's holy book.
The report said that the Pakistani authorities were considering taking legal action against the magazine but didn't give further details.
A security official said that authorities didn’t take action until nearly all the copies of the Newsweek magazine Nov. 22 issue had already been sold at book shops.
The magazine had no comment on the matter, Newsweek spokeswoman Jan Angilella said.
The magazine published in Nov. 22 issue an article entitled "Clash of Civilizations", discussing the killing of filmmaker Theo Van Gogh in the Netherlands and religious and ethnic divisions in Europe.
The News said Friday that the banned issue of the Newsweek had an image taken from Van Gogh's film about how women are treated in Islam that showed verses from the Qur’an written on the body of an almost naked woman.
Almost 97 percent of Pakistan's 150 million people are Muslims.
According to Pakistan’s law, anyone who insults Islam, Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) or the Qur’an should be sentenced to death.
According to The News, the Newsweek’s article was "blasphemous and highly provocative."
In July, Pakistani authorities banned another Newsweek edition, also for publishing an article they said was insulting to the Qur’an.