THE KING OF MOROCCO has slammed Facebook for allowing the lumpen proletariat to be disrespectful of its betters in the royalty.

A computer 'expert' who should obviously have known better thought it would be a real hoot to pretend he was the brother of King Mohammed VI. Sadly the full weight of undemocratic yet righteous vengeance came down on his sorry ass, the secret police popped round to his place and bunged him in chokey.

Thankfully, the King, who obviously has a keen sense of beheading-a-saddo-who-doesn't-know-any-better-is jolly-poor-PR, saw the funny side of the situation and ordered that the buffoon be unchained from the leopard enclosure and sent on his way.

Fouad Mourtada, a 27-year-old computer engineer, was released from jail in Casablanca yesterday. Human rights groups had expressed outrage when a Moroccan court sentenced him to three years in jail and fined him $1,400 for usurping the identity of the prince.

Mourtada, a former student at the Mohammedia Engineers School in Rabat, had set up a Facebook page purporting to be that of Prince Moulay Rachid, the king's younger brother.

Mourtada claimed that he had meant no harm and said of the Prince: "I admire him, I like him a lot and I have never caused him any wrong, it was just a joke. I am innocent. Please remove the electrodes from my genitalia."

In related news, a US man who set up an amusing Facebook page purporting to be the blog of Dick Cheney was unavailable for comment and appears to have vanished from the face of the Earth. µ