Dhaka:
A week after it blocked Facebook for hosting a page with blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Mohammed and " obnoxious" images of its leaders, Bangladesh on Sunday lifted a ban on the popular social networking website.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) ordered the country's international internet gateway providers to unblock the site after the US-based company agreed to remove the obnoxious images and content.
"We opened Facebook to users at 11:40pm following a BTRC directive," Mango Telecom Services, one of the gateways handlers, said.
Bangladesh imposed a ban on Facebook on May 29 after cartoons of the prophet posted on the site hurt the religious sentiments of the country's Muslim population.
Thousands of people belonging to the Muslim community protested over the cartoons which they branded as "anti-Islamic propaganda", and demanded the site be banned.
Nearly 90% of Bangladesh's 144 million people are Muslims, who regard depictions of Islam's prophet as blasphemous.
The BTRC said some links on Facebook contained "obnoxious" images of the country's leaders, including the prime minister, and that the site would be reopened after Bangladesh permanently blocks the offending pages.
Pakistan lifted a similar ban on the site last week following a court order.
Bangladesh has nearly a million Facebook account holders - a sixth of all internet users, according to the BTRC.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) ordered the country's international internet gateway providers to unblock the site after the US-based company agreed to remove the obnoxious images and content.
"We opened Facebook to users at 11:40pm following a BTRC directive," Mango Telecom Services, one of the gateways handlers, said.
Bangladesh imposed a ban on Facebook on May 29 after cartoons of the prophet posted on the site hurt the religious sentiments of the country's Muslim population.
Thousands of people belonging to the Muslim community protested over the cartoons which they branded as "anti-Islamic propaganda", and demanded the site be banned.
Nearly 90% of Bangladesh's 144 million people are Muslims, who regard depictions of Islam's prophet as blasphemous.
The BTRC said some links on Facebook contained "obnoxious" images of the country's leaders, including the prime minister, and that the site would be reopened after Bangladesh permanently blocks the offending pages.
Pakistan lifted a similar ban on the site last week following a court order.
Bangladesh has nearly a million Facebook account holders - a sixth of all internet users, according to the BTRC.
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