Sacha Baron Cohen beefs up security
Apparently terrorists don’t take well to being publicly mocked. The al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a coalition of Palestinian militias that boasts it was behind dozens of suicide bombings and shootings, has revealed in a statement it was “very upset” to have been featured in Sacha Baron Cohen’s satire Brüno, reports the Times of London. In the movie, Baron Cohen’s Austrian character ridicules the Martyrs’ Brigades when he attempts to get himself kidnapped during a meeting with Ayman Abu Aita, identified in the film as its leader. Brüno tells Abu Aita: “I want to be famous. I want the best guys in the business to kidnap me. Al-Qaeda is so 2001.” He then suggests that Abu Aita remove his moustache, explaining: “Because your king Osama looks like a kind of dirty wizard or homeless Santa.” The tenor of the Martyr Brigade’s message is threatening: “We reserve the right to respond in the way we find suitable against this man,” it said. The British comic is taking the threat seriously and has beefed up his personal security.