Kazakh officials vexed by comedian's role as Borat

Borat, British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's boorish, sexist and racist fictional character, continues to be the bane of Kazakh officials, especially as Kazakhstan's president prepares to travel to the U.S.

As Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev prepares for a visit later this month with U.S. President George W. Bush, government officials are trying to distance themselves from thefictional character.

They are denying reports that the presidential discussion topicswill include Cohen's upcoming film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

"I can say unambiguously that the question of this film or of the art let's call it that of Mr. Sacha Baron Cohen will not be discussed, " Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Yerzhan Ashykbayev told a news conference in the capital city of Astana Monday.

Borat is one of the offensive characters Cohen an award-winning comicwho attended Cambridge University initially created for his cabletelevision comedy program Da Ali G Show.

The character is a crude, chauvinistic, anti-Semitic TV host named Borat Sagdiyev, who is purportedly from the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan. In television skits and in his new film, Cohen as Boratdepicts Kazakhstan as a boorish, backward state full of racists, misogynists and drunks.

The film, which recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, is set to hit North American theatres Nov. 2.

It follows Borat as he takes a road trip across America on a Holy Grail-like quest of Canadian actress Pamela Anderson. The film, directed by longtime Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David collaborator Larry Charles, is mostly an opportunity to show Borat in various outrageous situations with an unsuspecting public.

Fox's MySpace website has also announced plans that will allow members in Canada, the U.S. and four other countries to register and watch the movie ahead of its release.

Borat runs afoul of Kazakh government

The Kazakh government has frequently criticized Cohen for the character and his depiction of the country, which officials say he has never visited.

Last year, Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry threatened to sue Cohen after objecting to statements he made while he hosted last year's MTV Europe Music Awards which he did in character as Borat. The government also banned a Borat website Cohen produces.

However, Dariga Nazarbayev, a politician and the daughter of President Nazarbayev, later said the reaction hurt the country's image much more than Cohen's satire itself.

Cohen has also courted controversy while filming his subversive skits in the U.S.

Nazarbayev's presidential visit itself is considered a controversial move for the White House, because the Central Asian leader who has led Kazakhstan since 1990 has banned opposition parties, intimidated the press and been accused of accepting bribes.