The US Embassy in Cairo temporarily shut down its Twitter feed for a couple of hours before restoring it, following an unusual diplomatic incident involving an American satirical comedian and the Egyptian government.

US officials say the embassy's Twitter account was taken offline on Wednesday after Egyptian authorities objected to a tweet containing a link to a monologue this week by "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart. He mocked Egypt's president for the arrest of high-profile satirist, Bassem Youssef. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.

The Twitter blackout comes as tensions between Washington and Cairo have soared in recent days over concerns that Egyptian is backsliding on the protection of human rights.