Religious minorities in Pakistan have decried Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code" as blasphemous and satanic and have demanded that the government immediately ban the film.

Shahbaz Bhatti, chairman of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), said: "'The Da Vinci Code' by Dan brown attacks our belief in the divinity of Christ, the truthfulness of sacred scriptures, the integrity of the Holy Catholic Church and core values of Christianity and Christians".

He said that the movie was full of offences, historical and theological errors regarding Jesus, Gospel and the Church. It was based on false, baseless, unrealistic and shameful information.

According to him, the Christians of Pakistan have expressed their unequivocal disgust and rejection of the much controversial "Da Vinci Code".

He said that the blasphemous movie had hurt the religious sentiments of Christians throughout the world. "We will not allow anyone to disgrace and insult our Jesus Lord and beliefs in the guise of freedom of expression."

Bhatti asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to condemn this act of blasphemy and introduce a charter to stop such elements from playing with the religious sentiments of people under the garb of freedom of speech.

He said that Western countries should also ban the circulation of the film and take strong action against the producer.

He demanded that the government officially condemn the film and prohibit cable operators, TV channels and Internet sites from showing it, in the same way as publication of the sacrilegious cartoons of Prophet Mohammed was banned.

Bhatti warned of countrywide protests by Christians if the film was allowed to be screened in Pakistan.