Gay Saudi Diplomat Seeks Asylum in U.S.

NBC News is reporting that the diplomat, Ali Ahmad Asseri, fears his life is in "great danger:"

"If I go back to Saudi Arabia, they will kill me openly in broad daylight,” Asseri said Saturday in an email to NBC.

Asseri is the first secretary of the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles. Being gay was only part of the problem for Asseri. Turns out he's also close friends with...ready for this...a Jewish woman.  He's also not endearing himself to the homeland by threatening to reveal "embarrassing information" about the Saudi Royal Family:

Ali Ahmed, a prominent Saudi dissident in the U.S., told NBC that Asseri’s fears for his safety are well-founded because of his open criticism of members of the Saudi royal family. In the letter that he posted on a Saudi website, Ahmed noted, Asseri referred to “four princes” — who he did not identify by name — “who are paid salaries and allowances from the consulate and do not work” and yet stay in the United States “spending their time (on) tourism and relaxation as if they were created from light.”

The travails for Asseri began when co-workers began to suspect things about his private life. They started following him around. That's how they found out about the gay bars. Then the Jewish friend. Weasel Zippers summarizes for us:

Fears that his life is in danger because:

a.) he’s gay

b.) he has a Jewish woman friend

c.) he’s got dirt on the Saudi royal family and he’s willing to dish.

That would do it all right.

Read the full story here.