UnNews:Saudis warn Uncyclopedia not to parody Mubarak

This article is part of UnNews, your source for up-to-the-picosecond misinformation.

10 February 2011

Hosni Mubarak, pictured holding hands with Saudi King Abdullah, has a longstanding relationship with the Kingdom

LONDON, England -- Saudi Arabia has threatened to prop up embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s dynasty if the Obama administration does not prohibit the humor website Uncyclopedia from running parodies on the crisis in Egypt, The Times of London reported Thursday.

In a testy personal telephone call on Jan. 29, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah reportedly told President Obama not to allow Uncyclopedia to humiliate Mubarak and he issued a strong warning that otherwise Saudi Arabia would punish the United States by stepping in to bankroll Egypt and thereby force an end to the U.S. aid-to-Egypt program worth $1.5 billion annually.

President Obama reportedly told the Saudi leader, “Do I have this right: you’re threatening to replace American aid to Egypt worth $1.5 billion per year?” Obama asked. “Well, by all means, please do!” The President jibbed. “You have all the cash, not us. Besides, I have no idea why we ever gave $1.5 billion to Egypt."

Still, America's closest ally in the Gulf made clear that the Egyptian president must not be made fun of by Uncyclopedia, and that Mubarak be allowed to oversee the transition towards peaceful dictatorship and then leave with his puppet in control. "Mubarak and King Abdullah are not just allies, they are intimate, and the King is not about to see his friend cast aside and humiliated," a senior source in the Saudi capital told The Times.

Obama is reported to have flatly refused to censor Uncyclopedia in any way. The tough line from Riyadh is driven by concern that Uncyclopedia reporters were too eager to parody and ridicule Mubarak when the uprising began, without proper consideration of what constitutes humor. On the web site's acclaimed UnNews service, for example, all five stories on the Front Page, at one point last week, dealt with the turmoil in Egypt. The service reported that Mubarak was to be replaced by a reincarnated Malcolm X, or perhaps by the Blues Brothers.

"With Egypt in chaos, the kingdom is Washington's only major ally left in the Arab world and the Saudis want the Americans to remind Uncyclopedia to remember that," said a source in Riyadh.

Sources

• Staff "Saudis Warned Obama Not to 'Humiliate' Mubarak" Fox, Feb 10, 2011