KUALA LUMPUR (AP)--Malaysia joined Indonesia and Bangladesh Wednesday in blocking distribution of Newsweek magazine's current edition because it contains a picture of the Muslim prophet, Muhammad. "Normally, if publications contain photographs said to be that of the Prophet Muhammad or such figures, the law of the country would have been violated," Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama.
"As such, we will not allow the edition to be circulated," he was quoted as saying.
Neighboring Indonesia - the world's most populous Muslim country – and Bangladesh have blocked distribution of Newsweek's latest edition.
Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres, or Reporters Without Borders, recognized that Islam forbids depictions of its 25 prophets, but said it considered the Newsweek ban to be censorship and "an attack on the free flow of information."
The magazine's distributor in Indonesia, PT Indoprom, said it had heeded advice from the Indonesian Ulamas Council, a religious body, which recommended it hold back the magazine.
In Bangladesh, the government banned the magazine, fearing a popular backlash.
Indonesia and Malaysia both have secular governments which are nevertheless sensitive to issues regarding religion and ethnicity.