Pakistani
Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf ordered the suspension of YouTube in the
country on Monday over a video made in the United States which mocks the
Prophet Mohammad and has enraged the Islamic world. 

Ashraf’s office
said in a statement that the Ministry of Information had been ordered to block
YouTube so that the video could not be viewed.

“The direction
has been given after YouTube refused to heed to the advice of the government of
Pakistan to remove blasphemous material from its site,” said Ashraf’s
office.

“The prime
minister said that blasphemous material would not be tolerated and the services
of YouTube would remain suspended till removal of blasphemous material.”

Muslims in Pakistan
and elsewhere around the world have been seething over the video posted on the
Internet under several titles including “Innocence of Muslims”.

Protesters on
motorcycles and in cars headed towards the U.S. Consulate in Pakistan’s biggest
city and commercial hub Karachi, prompting police to shoot in the air and fire
teargas.

Protesters threw
rocks at the police and damaged one of their vehicles. Around 100 people roamed
roads and alleys near the sprawling consulate.

A senior police
official said 30 students had been arrested.

Protests erupted in
several Pakistani cities over the weekend.

In Lahore on
Monday, protesters threw rocks at police and burned an American flag near the
U.S. Consulate in images broadcast live on local television channels. Police
official Rai Tahir said six policemen and some protesters were hurt.

“We used
teargas and a baton charge,” said Tahir. “We managed to push them
back.”
The U.S. Embassy in
Islamabad said it had suspended public services due to the potential for
demonstrations near the compound.

Pakistan’s
U.S.-backed government faces a Taliban insurgency supported by al Qaeda and
other militant groups.