AMERICA’s efforts to secure future energy supplies — the “Great Game” of 21st-century global diplomacy — became entangled yesterday with an even greater game: that of poking fun at Kazakhstan, as played by the British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.

As George Bush was playing host to President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, a country desperate to be taken seriously, Cohen, in his role of Borat Sagdiyev, a fictional Kazakh TV reporter, upstaged them both.

Borat issued an invitation last night to “George Walter Bush and other American dignitaries, Donald Rumsfeld, Bill Gates, O. J. Simpsons and Mel Gibsons”, to a private screening of his new “moviefilm”, Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, which will have its British premiere at The Times BFI London Film Festival next month.

The US event, would, he promised, be followed by a cocktail party at a Hooters restaurant, a chain famed for scantily clad, heavily cleavaged waitresses serving cheap chicken wings and beer.

Borat — the film had its premiere at the recent Toronto festival and opens in November — has developed a huge following in the US.

The film includes lines such as: “We have many hobbies: disco dancing, archery, rape and table tennis.” Other pastimes include “the running of the Jews” and “dog-shooting”. The White House, unsurprisingly, responded sniffily to his invitation, saying that Mr Bush would not be attending the event and denied that the film had been discussed during yesterday’s talks. “This is not a presidential matter,” a spokesman said.

But it has been impossible to avoid Kazakhstan’s efforts to rebut Cohen’s depiction of the country during its president’s visit this week.

Its Government has spent heavily on television adverts describing Kazakhstan as the beautiful “heart of Eurasia”, along with a four-page supplement in The New York Times boasting about its sophisticated culture, booming economy, sushi bars and religious tolerance.

Borat hit back by staging an impromptu press conference outside Kazakhstan’s Embassy on Thursday. “These are disgusting fabrications,” he said, waving the newspaper advertisement, claiming it was perpetrated by “evil nitwits” from neighbouring Uzbekistan.

“If there is one more item of Uzbek propaganda claiming that we do not drink fermented horse urine, give death penalty for baking bagels, or export over 300 tonnes of human pubis per year, then we will be left with no alternative but to commence bombardment of their cities with our catapults.”

Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister has, without any intended self-irony, made similar suggestions that Cohen, who is Jewish, may be “acting on behalf of someone’s political order” to denigrate the country.

The Government has not ruled out taking legal action against him.

WIT AND WISDOM?

Borat on sexual equality
In Kazakhstan we say: “God, man, horse, dog, then woman, then rat”

On leisure
In Kazhakstan we have many hobbies: disco dancing, archery, rape and table tennis

On civil rights
Since the 2003 Tulyakov reforms, Kazakhstan is as civilized as any other country in the world. Women can now travel inside of bus. Homosexuals no longer have to wear blue hats. And age of consent has been raised to 8 years old

On democracy
Democracy is different in America. For example: women CAN vote but horse can not!

On England
Every Englishman must have a hobby. Some like to collect the stamp, some like to make the jam, but the most fun is to a kill a little animal with a shotgun or rip them up with wild dog

On Canadian diplomatic etiquette
It also tradition in my country for wife of the Premier to give visiting dignitaries hand relief and mouth party if they royalty

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