Kuwait plans to block YouTube

Kuwait has ordered local Internet service providers to block online video-sharing website YouTube over clips that could offend Muslims.

"Since the website displays the Koran in the form of songs sung with the oud [stringed instrument]... and displays disrespectful pictures of the Prophet Mohammad ... please proceed with immediate effect in blocking the website www.youtube.com," read a copy of a memo obtained by Reuters.

The Ministry of Communications was not immediately available for a comment. The website could still be accessed in Kuwait on Monday.

Islamist and tribal groups managed to increase their grip on parliament in the pro-Western Gulf Arab state's May elections with some deputies demanding Kuwaiti broadcasters show more religious content.

YouTube is a unit of Internet search engine Google Inc.