As I am sure that most of you know that alcohol is strictly forbidden in the very conservative Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In fact, although punishments vary for Saudi nationals, migrant and poor Pakistani and Nepalese (among others) workers in the Kingdom suffer horrific punishments for drinking and even more so for selling alcohol. There is simply no tolerance for alcohol in the Kingdom.

So that is why there was enormous controversy when a Qatari-owned Lebanese television station (New TV) aired a photo of what the Saudi King and what appeared to be him drinking alcohol. The photo spread like wildfire on Arab websites. But was he really? You judge:

It looks like the King is toasting with Red wine. The hypocrite! Or is he? Take a look at this better, more clear photo:

So, did New TV or someone else tamper with the first photo to humiliate the King or did the Saudis quickly respond and then issued their own doctored photo to cover up for the King?

I think neither, the first photo just came out bad. The current Saudi King, unlike his predecessor, is known to be a righteous and pious person.