KUWAIT — A Kuwaiti official has confirmed the country’s Ministry of Communications is blocking access to adult sites on the Net. Eng Nasser Al Khandari, director of the Telephones Monitoring Department within the ministry, said the agency also is monitoring the Web for “illegal internet telephony.”

So far, the ministry has disconnected 85 mobile phones and landlines officials found were being used for connecting to porn sites. The resulting fines brought in KD 32,229, Al Khandari said. Some of the offenders were arrested, he noted.

The ministry has shut down 59 porn websites within the past year.

Internet service in Kuwait is only available to licensed individuals and businesses that have filed applications with the government. The government reserves the right to monitor all internet usage, including that at internet cafes, which have been warned not to allow children younger than 18 to go online.

Of additional concern to the ministry are websites from which users can download mainstream feature films.

“The information ministry is planning to block such sites as well,” Al Khandari told the daily newspaper Al Seyassah.