SAUDI ARABIA: Actor Arrested For Taking Selfies With Fans, Charged With Mixing With Unrelated Women

Saudi actor Abdul Aziz al-Kassar is apparently so good looking that he was swarmed by female fans demanding selfies during a visit to a Riyadh mall. In swooped an officer from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, who arrested al-Kassar for mixing with women unrelated to him. The Daily Mail reports:

The shocking moment Al Kassar was pulled from the midst of the gaggle of black burkha clad women by a man wearing a white robe, a member of the muttawa, who enforce Sharia law, was captured on film and uploaded to YouTube. Al Kassar has since been released, and has appeared on Saudi television to give his side of the story. He revealed to Gulf Rotana television how he had asked his followers on Snapchat which was the best mall to visit, before telling them he planned to make the trip on Friday. ‘However, I did not expect to find so many people waiting for me,’ Gulf News reported him adding. ‘I want to clarify that the presence of young women at the mall was not something under my control.’ Al Kassar argued he should have been warned by the owners of the shopping centre before he arrived so the situation could have been avoided. The actor is now on bail, awaiting the outcome of the investigation. Until it is complete, he will have to remain in Saudi Arabia.