omarsharif.jpgAccording to the Guardian, a message board previously used by Al-Qaida is displaying a threat against the life of actor Omar Sharif. Sharif, who was born Christian (and with the Michael Chaloub), converted to Islam in the 50s, when he married Egyptian actress Faten Hamama. Since then, however, he's done much to ruffle feathers in the Muslim community; his films were actually banned in Egypt after he kissed Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl. This time, Sharif has angered Muslims by playing St. Peter in an Italian TV movie – and, specifically, for making statements, widely reported in the Italian press, about how much the role meant to him. "Playing Peter was so important for me that even now I can only speak about it with difficulty," Sharif reportedly said. "It will be difficult for me to play other roles from now on." This sparked the message boar threat, which read, in part: "Omar Sharif has stated that he has embraced the crusader idolatry. He is a crusader who is offending Islam and Muslims and receiving applause from the Italian people. I give you this advice, brothers, you must kill him." So, presumably, if Italians want to help save Omar, they can hold the clapping for the time being. I mean, I think it's pretty safe to say that this TV movie isn't exactly Doctor Zhivago...