Saudis Reject Pakistani Diplomat Whose Name Translates to 'Biggest Dick'

[The_Dude 1,142]

Saudis Reject Pakistani Diplomat Whose Name Translates to 'Biggest #######'

Tim King Salem-News.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - A high level Pakistani diplomat has been rejected as Ambassador of Saudi Arabia because his name, Akbar Zeb, equates to "Biggest #######" in Arabic. Saudi officials, apparently overwhelmed by the idea of the name, put their foot down and gave the idea of his being posted there, the kibosh.

Akbar Zeb is no newcomer to politics, in fact you could say he's a pretty big deal. This long-ranging high level diplomat has worked with some of the largest members of world governments, players charged with negotiating the outcome of the world's current events.

He most recently served as High Commissioner Designate of Pakistan to Canada, and prior to that he was the ambassador of Pakistan to South Africa,. He also served in that capacity in Washington from 1983-87, and New Delhi from 1994-2000.

He earlier worked at the Pakistan headquarters as section officer from 1982- 83, director from 1987-94 and director-general from 2000-2003.

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[LaL 418]

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<h1>'Hoax' story a huge pain for Pakistani diplomat

Online reports of 'porn star' moniker not true, envoy says

An embarrassing online story swirling around Pakistan's top diplomat in Canada has the high commissioner considering how to put a stop to what he calls a "hoax."

Newspapers and magazines, including the venerable Foreign Policy and The Atlantic, posted news on their websites Tuesday that originated in blogs, alleging that Akbar Zeb was denied entry to Saudi Arabia because of what has been called his "porn star" moniker.

While Zeb's name is Persian in origin and is perfectly innocuous in his native Urdu, it has quite another meaning in Arabic in which his first name means "greatest" and his last name, although pronounced differently, is slang for a man's private parts.

In short, not words that would be used in the circles in which Zeb currently travels. And they are words -- if you believe the stories flying around cyberspace -- that the Saudis felt they didn't want used in their ultra-conservative society.

But Zeb, who only arrived in Canada in May, says the entire thing is a nonsense. "I received a couple of e-mails from my friends," he said upon arriving at his Range Road office Tuesday morning. "It must be someone who played a practical joke because I've never been appointed to Saudi Arabia and they've never asked for my agreement."

He said he's never even expressed interest in a post in Saudi Arabia -- nor UAE nor Bahrain as some of the reports also suggest -- and said Pakistan's current man in Saudi Arabia has only been there for four months. "So how could they be nominating me to go there?"

In addition, he's been in Canada for just nine months of what would traditionally be a three-year term. "It's a prank that someone's playing on the Internet."

The news initially appeared on several blogs and then variations of the story started appearing in online posts in news sources such as the Jerusalem Post, National Review, The Atlantic Online and Foreign Policy.

When reached by the Citizen, Foreign Policy writer David Kenner said: "We just reported the story from the Arab Times. I was just forwarding the links."

Asked in the morning if he or his government planned to do something about it, Zeb asked, "What can I do?" But by the end of his workday, he noted he hadn't been contacted by any news organizations other than the Citizen, and was at that point wondering if his office should issue a statement denying the claims.

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[Ban Hammer 14,813]

eric has competition!

[The_Dude 1,142]

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Well thanks for being a killjoy

I got the original story from a fairly reputable source. However, now looking back at it, it is all second hand reporting. Oh well, guess I should have known this nugget was too good to be true.

[scandal 951]

This fellow Akbar Zeb reminds me of my vewwy gweat fwend in Wome called Bigguth Dickuth.

(apologies to Monty Python)