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After months of being battered by Borat's publicity generating cultural offensive, the glorious nation of Kazakhstan, the Central Asian pubis-exporting giant and leading producer of potassium, can finally claim a victory against its greatest tormentor, as neighboring Russia has at least temporarily banned the film to protect its neighbor from the further hilarious tarnishing of its image. Reports Var:

Decision was taken by territory's Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography — and is likely the first time that a non-pornographic movie has been banned. Plenty of hard-core porn movies succeed in being licensed by the agency.

"The film contains material that some viewers may consider offensive to certain nationalities and religions," Yury Vasyuchkov of the licensing body was quoted in local press. [...]

"There was some kind of explanation that the movie might create tension between races and nationalities because of its far-from-simple humor," [Russian distributor] Gemini's Nikolai Vorunkov was quoted in local press, adding that "Borat" was now unlikely to open before the New Year, if at all.

The pornography loophole might provide a way for Borat to find its way into the Russian market; if the potentially racially offensive material is removed in trimming the movie down to just the handful of minutes taken up by its infamous naked wrestling scene, Fox could realize a significant profit by releasing it as a homoerotic S&M film that celebrates Kazakhstan's tolerance of alternative lifestyles.