Sri Lanka bans Da Vinci Code movie

Sri Lanka bans Da Vinci Code movie

Sri Lanka has banned screenings of "The Da Vinci Code" in theaters and local television channels following an appeal by the country's Catholic Bishops Conference, a state-run daily said Thursday.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa ordered the ban on the film on Wednesday, the Daily News reported. The movie had not yet hit theaters in Sri Lanka along with its worldwide release last week.

Christians, mostly Roman Catholics, account for about 7.5 percent of Sri Lanka's population of nearly 19 million people, which is predominantly Buddhist, reports the AP.

I.L.