YouTube blocked in Saudi to stop anti-Islam film

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — YouTube said Tuesday that it was stopping users in Saudi Arabia from viewing an anti-Islam video that has sparked protests across the Muslim world, after the kingdom's press agency reported that the ruler had banned all access to the film and the site appeared to be blocked there.

The online video sharing site said that it was preventing "Innocence of Muslims" from being seen on its site in Saudi Arabia after being notified by the government there that the clip is breaking the country's laws.

Google Inc., YouTube's owner, has blocked access to the video in Libya and Egypt following violence there, and in Indonesia and India because it says the video broke laws in those countries.

The Saudi Press Agency said that the kingdom had sent a request to Google to "veil" all links containing the video, which was produced in the United States and which ridicules the Prophet Muhammad.

The agency said King Abdullah had directed that all websites and links that accessed the video should be blocked. An Associated Press reporter in Saudi Arabia reported that the online video sharing site was inaccessible that evening. (AP)