Removed from festival in Riyadh
The internet is awash with speculation that this is the man who was kicked out of Saudi Arabia for being too handsome.
Omar Borkan Al Gala, a poet, actor, and photographer from Dubai, is reported to be one of three men removed from a festival in Riyadh earlier this month by religious police in the conservative Islamic kingdom.
The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vices in Saudi – where there are strict rules governing interaction between men and women who aren’t related – had the men deported back to Abu Dhabi in case women should ‘fall for them’.
A report in Arabic newspaper Elaph which said: ‘A festival official said the three Emiratis were taken out on the grounds they are too handsome and that the Commission members feared female visitors could fall for them.’
His identity was revealed by Jezebel who reported that he had been deported back to United Arab Emirates.
Although it has not yet been confirmed that he was one of the men, Al Gala has posted a link to the original news report on his Facebook page, along with statements such as: ‘The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.’
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His Facebook page is full of posed photos in which Al Gala looks moodily into the camera – it looks as if he is wearing dark eyeliner.
Several of them feature him posing in a sports car as well as blowing out smoke and looking into the distance thoughtfully.
On his Facebook page, Al Gala has 139,616 likes and about 36,487 talking about him.
The UAE released an official statement indicating that the religious police were concerned about over the unexpected presence of an unnamed female artist in the pavilion at the Jenadrivah Heritage and Culture Festival.
‘Her visit to the UAE stand was a coincidence as it was not included in the programme which we had already provided to the festival’s management,’ the head of the UAE delegation to the festival, said in a statement.
He has not been confirmed as one of the three men, but his made-up appearance and his refraining from confirming that he was one of the trio, suggests he could be taking advantage of the speculation to boost his public profile.
The internet is awash with speculation that this is the man who was kicked out of Saudi Arabia for being too handsome.
Omar Borkan Al Gala, a poet, actor, and photographer from Dubai, is reported to be one of three men removed from a festival in Riyadh earlier this month by religious police in the conservative Islamic kingdom.
The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vices in Saudi – where there are strict rules governing interaction between men and women who aren’t related – had the men deported back to Abu Dhabi in case women should ‘fall for them’.
A report in Arabic newspaper Elaph which said: ‘A festival official said the three Emiratis were taken out on the grounds they are too handsome and that the Commission members feared female visitors could fall for them.’
His identity was revealed by Jezebel who reported that he had been deported back to United Arab Emirates.
Although it has not yet been confirmed that he was one of the men, Al Gala has posted a link to the original news report on his Facebook page, along with statements such as: ‘The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.’
Scroll down for video
His Facebook page is full of posed photos in which Al Gala looks moodily into the camera – it looks as if he is wearing dark eyeliner.
Several of them feature him posing in a sports car as well as blowing out smoke and looking into the distance thoughtfully.
On his Facebook page, Al Gala has 139,616 likes and about 36,487 talking about him.
The UAE released an official statement indicating that the religious police were concerned about over the unexpected presence of an unnamed female artist in the pavilion at the Jenadrivah Heritage and Culture Festival.
‘Her visit to the UAE stand was a coincidence as it was not included in the programme which we had already provided to the festival’s management,’ the head of the UAE delegation to the festival, said in a statement.
He has not been confirmed as one of the three men, but his made-up appearance and his refraining from confirming that he was one of the trio, suggests he could be taking advantage of the speculation to boost his public profile.
