Video sharing web site YouTube which had been unavailable to Moroccan users for over a week is now back. Allegations are rife that the Moroccan government had banned the site as its war against the government of the Saharawi Arab Democratic government (SADR) goes online.

SADR also known as Western Sahara has been occupied by Morocco since 1976 in defiance of United Nations resolutions. Several videos in support of SADR , with some alleging incidents of torture by Moroccan authorities have appeared on YouTube and these are believed to have triggered the ban.

However the spokesman for Maroc Telecom which is a subsidiary of the French media giant Vivendi denied an intentional ban on YouTube blaming the problems on a technical hitch. Why the 'technical glitch' affected only a single site was left unexplained.

This is not the first time specific sites have been banned in Morocco, Google Earth and LiveJournal are still inaccessible to Moroccan internet users.