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October 13, 2006

"Borat" finds date in Amsterdam gay bar

The comedian known as ''Borat'' appeared briefly in Amsterdam Thursday, praising the city's freewheeling nightlife and defending his portrayal of the central Asian country of Kazakhstan. Borat boasted of picking up a date at a popular Amsterdam bar known as a gay meeting place.

''This woman reminded me of Kazakhi woman—she was more tall than me, with hair on arms and some hair on face and deep voice,'' he told the Dutch press.

Borat Sagdiyev, played by British comic Sacha Baron Cohen, has been criticized as a homophobic, misogynistic, English-mangling caricature—the very traits that endear him to fans of his satire. Kazakhstan's government placed four-page advertising inserts in The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune last month, countering Borat's portrayal of the ex-Soviet country as a backward place.

Borat said Thursday the ads were placed by agents of neighboring Uzbekistan and threatened to ''commence bombardment of their cities with our catapults'' if they do not stop. In reality, Kazakhstan profiles itself as a forward-looking pro-Western nation, with double-digit economic growth and immense oil reserves.

Last month Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev met with President Bush to discuss economic ties. Borat claimed that the true aim of Nazarbayev's trip was to promote Cohen's new film, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. (AP)

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