Manama: US socialite Kim Kardashian has left the Gulf following an unprecedented three-day visit to Kuwait and Bahrain to launch new stores.
“It is my first visit to the country and I heard it was beautiful, but what I saw was beyond that,” she told fans in Bahrain.
“I was on the phone with my sisters and family telling them how beautiful it is. The country has lovely beaches and desert,” she said as fans from Bahrain and neighbouring countries gathered at a mall to be close to their idol.
The reality star heaped praise on Bahrain and urged fellow US citizens to visit the country.
“People from the States should come here because the people and the country are so amazing and welcoming that I am planning to be back here during my vacation,” she reportedly said.
Her pledge to learn more about the Middle East following her controversial comments over Palestine and Israel included a visit to the desert to see camels.
In one of her numerous tweets during the trip, she said that she had a fun day out at the desert and posted pictures standing at some distance from camels and a photo of a glass of camel milk.
Her visit to both Kuwait and Bahrain has been greeted as “a once in a lifetime opportunity by a role model for successful women” by cheering fans and as “a move to spread vice by a woman with a bad reputation” by angry protestors.
Meanwhile, about 100 Salafists demonstrated with banners outside The Walk Bahrain, an upmarket mall in the capital Manama, after some MPs tried to block the visit over what they called her “bad reputation”, according to a local newspaper.
Thousands of fans, who had paid up to 500 Bahraini dinars ($1,360) a ticket, broke into hysterical screams as the 32-year-old celebrity launched the Millions of Milkshakes franchise inside the mall.
Witnesses said police dispersed the demonstrators with stun grenades as the inauguration proceeded inside. There were no reports of casualties.
Kardashian stirred controversy even before she arrived in Bahrain from Kuwait, where she opened another store last week.
Hardline MPs presented a motion to parliament calling her “an actress with an extremely bad reputation”.
Many Kardashian fans tweeted their displeasure, saying the “MPs should focus their time on solving key political, economic and social issues”, the newspaper reported.
Kim Kardashian was the most popular US entertainment figure to visit Bahrain after King of Pop Michael Jackson left the country where he lived for months.
However, throughout his stay in Bahrain where he rested after he was acquitted in a trial, Michael did not hold any meeting with his fans and refused to have any interview with the media.
— With inputs from agencies
