GEORGE CLOONEY - CENSORED SYRIANA SHOWS IN UAE

GEORGE CLOONEY's Oscar-winning oil thriller SYRIANA premiered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last week (ends14APR06) - after director STEVEN GAGHAN agreed to cut two minutes of sensitive film. UAE government censors requested scenes showing the mistreatment of Asian workers in the Gulf, homosexuality and references to a late Saudi king were removed. A spokesman for the movie's distributors admits the government were concerned about the portrayal of homosexuality - which remains a serious, punishable crime in the Gulf. JEAN SHAHEEN from Italia Films says, "We asked whether a film with such a subject would be approved, they told us they would rather not deal with it." ALEEM JUMAA of the Dubai censorship office says, "We would never allow anything that is disrespectful to the country or the president, causes security problems, insults religions, exhibits immorality like nudity or promotes vices like alcohol and drugs."