ALMATY - He's accused them of drinking horse urine, beating their wives and hating Jews, but now Borat, the fictional Kazakh journalist acted by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, is being invited to come and see the real Kazakhstan for himself.
Previously the government of Kazakhstan has reacted angrily to Borat's buffoonery, only to prompt all the crueller lampooning of their oil-rich, ex-Soviet republic in Central Asia.
On Thursday, Kazakhstan's deputy foreign minister Rakhat Aliyev tried a new tack by issuing an invitation -- and adding a little humour of his own.
Pointing out that Cohen, who came to fame for his earlier TV persona of rapper Ali G, has never actually been to Kazakhstan, Aliyev told Kazakhstan-Today news agency:
"I would like to invite him to our country. Here he can make a number of discoveries: that women not only are allowed to sit inside buses, but drive their own cars; that our wine is made from grapes; and that Jews go freely to the synagogue."
Aliyev also assured Sacha Baron Cohen that there was no danger of any "legal action," as the exasperated Kazakh government had threatened at one point last year.
10/19/2006 12:36 GMT