CAIRO, Egypt: Egyptian government has banned the sale of three international newspapers for publishing articles offensive to Islam and holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his pure progeny), according to the official news agency MENA.

Under a decree issued by Information Minister Anas Al Fiqi, the French Le Figaro, Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Britain's Guardian Weekly would not be able to enter the country.

Fiqi told MENA that articles in the three publications were offensive to Islam as they claimed that the religion was spread through violence.

Fiqi "will not allow any publication that insults the Islamic religion or calls for hatred or contempt of any religion to be distributed inside Egypt," MENA said.