Saudi Prince Asks Bashar Assad to Ban Anti-Saudi Movie

Issuing a statement on his Twitter account, the Saudi Prince harshly criticized Syrian director of the 'King of Sand', Najdat Aznour, calling him “director of Jihad al-Nikah”.

King of the Sands tells the story of rise of the founder of Saudi kingdom, Ibn Saud, from an obscure tribal leader in Kuwait to the undisputed ruler of the Arabian peninsula.

The film depicts Ibn Saud as an unscrupulous, bloodthirsty womanizer who was a pawn of the British.

The film’s director has said that his intention was to expose the religious fanaticism that Ibn Saud promoted which - he says - is behind much modern day terrorism.

Prince Talal said the movie was not a successful work and “it will be thrown in the rubbish bin of art works”.

He wrote that he has asked a friend to talk to President Assad and persuade him to ban the movie in Syria which has been suffering from a deadly insurgency that Riyadh happens to be one of its strongest supporters, Al-Alam reported.

Saudi prince wrote that he hoped “for all the favors Abdul Aziz Al Saud has done for Syria and the Syrian government and nation can’t ever forget,” Bashar Assad orders banning the movie.

In an interview with Lebanese Al Akhbar daily on November 30th, Assad said the whole war in Syria could end if Saudi Arabia stopped arming and supporting militants who poured to the country following 2013 pro-reform protests.

Saudi Arabia, along with Qatar and Turkey have been the strongest supporters of the war in Syria with Riyadh and Doha spending billions of dollars to support militants.

Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who is Director General of the Saudi Intelligence Agency has been referred by many as one of the main figures leading the war against Syria.

Nearly three years of crisis has taken its toll on the lives of around 126,000 people in Syria, according to new statistics compiled by the United Nations. Millions have also been displaced due to the turmoil.