King of the Sands

Saudi royal family is rigidly intolerant of any criticism of its rule; but it is more intolerant of criticisms toward the founder, notoriously polygamous King `Abdul-`Aziz.  Syrian director, Najdat Anzour, who made millions from directing TV serials for Gulf channels, has directed the movie King of the Sands.  Saudi royal family has been most outraged.  Prince Talal bin `Abdul-`Aziz, the sleazy "reformer" prince, last week on Twitter admitted that he sent a letter to "his excellency president Bashshar Al-Asad" through "mutual friends" to refrain from showing the movie in Damascus.  Yesterday, in the Opera House in Damascus, the movie was shown and Anzour opened with perfunctory praise for the lousy Syrian regime.  Agents of the Saudi intelligence service among the Syrian rebels--those who promise us a "new Syria" responded with shells in the area where the movie was shown.