THE KITE RUNNER IS BANNED IN AFGHANISTAN

Oscar favourite THE KITE RUNNER has been banned in Afghanistan, because of a graphic scene showing the sexual assault of a young boy. The movie, which is set in the wartorn country, won't be screened there after the culture ministry deemed the attack scene "ethnically orientated" - because the boy was raped by another from a different community. Indian movie Kabul-Express was banned in 2007 on similar grounds. Deputy culture minister Najib Malalai says, "When one member of an ethnic group is attacked by people from a different one, it makes it seem that ethnicity was the cause for this type of act. It cannot be accepted." The four young stars of the movie have already fled Afghanistan for the U.S. fearing they would be targetted because of the harrowing scene.