Sri Lanka bans Da Vinci

Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa has banned The Da Vinci Code film following an appeal by the country's Catholic bishops' conference.

However, there will be no ban on the sale of the book, the state-run Daily News reported.

Christians have expressed outrage at the story's theory that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children.

They represent about 7.5 per cent of the country's mostly Buddhist population.