This article is more than 13 years old

This article is more than 13 years old

Another week, another controversy for Borat, as it emerged that Twentieth Century Fox's comedy has been banned from every Arab country except Lebanon.

Variety reports that the Sacha Baron-Cohen creation has fallen foul of censors in the Gulf, a region not known for its tolerance towards the arts.

A censor at Dubai's Ministry of Information called Borat "vile, gross and extremely ridiculous", adding that if all the offensive scenes were cut out, only 30 minutes would remain.

Meanwhile the film continues to enjoy a storming box office run in other parts of the world and is close to racking up £101m ($200m) in global ticket sales.

It recently crossed the $100m (£51m) mark in North America, where Baron-Cohen and the studio face a raft of lawsuits from, among others, an etiquette coach and the traveling frat-boys featured in the film.

The parties variously claim the film-makers misrepresented their intentions and told them they were making a documentary that would not air outside Kazakhstan.

The furore is causing Hollywood insiders to question whether Baron-Cohen's proposed follow-up, Bruno, will work now that an increasing number of people are in on the joke. Universal Pictures swooped on the rights after Fox passed.