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Private Dancer
Iran's president Ahmadinejad spotted enjoying Qatar's dancing queens
You're a religious fundamentalist devoted to ridding your nation of impure and improper conduct. On your watch, women can't dance or sing for male audiences. They can be stopped in the street for wearing costumes your religious police disapprove of. Books, websites and films believed to be likely to corrupt the morals of youth are banned.
So what's to stop you enjoying a spot of fancy dancing girls when you're on a jolly abroad?
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has come under fire in Iran following a broadcast which appeared to show the president enjoying a display by unveiled dancing girls while on a trip to Qatar. The women's performance was part of the opening ceremony for the Asian games, which Qatar is hosting. It included veiled and non-veiled dancers from Egypt and India, the Guardian reports.
Iran's officials are expected to excuse themselves from such decadent displays of wickedness. However, Ahmadinejad was pictured sitting with president Bashar Assad of Syria and Palestinian PM Ismail Haniya while the show continued.
His people say he was on the way to the airport when the dancing took place, but some in Iran's religious hierarchy - usually strong backers of the president - aren't convinced. One hardline site said,
"The failure of Ahmadinejad to object and his constant presence has damaged the image of Iran's Islamic revolution and its commitment to Islamic rules in contrast with the Arab countries in the Gulf." The same site showed images of the president in his seat after the show.
Another source warned, "Those who created the conditions for his presence should be investigated as quickly as possible."
Those who created the conditions for his presence? Does this mean officials in Doha will be responsible, or Ahmadinejad's handlers - or the president himself?
The spectacle of religious hardliners being led astray by the pleasures of the flesh is not a new one - indeed, some of the 11th September terrorists are reported to have watched a strip show their night before the attacks. However, Ahmadinejad didn't strike any of us as likely to deviate from his mission, even if the show, by western standards, was fairly innocent.
Perhaps, though, Iran's president is coming under fire at home for domestic reasons. Ahmadinejad is perhaps Iran's most well-travelled leader, striking up alliances around the globe with characters like Hugo Chavez and Robert Mugabe. Perhaps, like Tony Blair experienced last year, standing astride the world stage is no substitute for rolling up your sleeves and getting work done on the domestic front.
