Cairo - A young Egyptian actor is to face a probe by the Egypt's actors' union for working with an Israeli actor in a joint BBC and HBO docudrama that recounts the life of Iraq's former dictator Saddam Hussein, the Egyptian Gazette reported on Tuesday. Amr Waked was cast for the role of Saddam's son-in-law in the film which is currently under production in Tunisia.
Waked has said he had no knowledge that Yigal Naor, the actor who plays Saddam, had Israeli citizenship and was also quoted as saying that "withdrawal from filming would constitute a breach of contract, with severe consequences."
Naor is also said to be of Iraqi origin.
"The (actor's) union would defend Waked in the case of financial or other measures taken against him with regards to his contractual obligation," Ashraf Zaki, chairman of the Union for Actors, told the Egyptian Gazette.
But Zaki stressed that "normalizing relations with Israel" will not be tolerated, and therefore Waked should either walk off the film set or face an investigation at home.
Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, but expanding relations with the Jewish state remains to be a highly controversial issue among regular Egyptians.
If the probe leads to the dismissal of Waked, the actor would be banned from acting in any Egyptian productions.
Waked first appeared on the silver screen in the role of a Palestinian suicide attacker, who had willingly ventured into an Israeli checkpoint with an explosive belt around his waist.
Recently, he played the role of a radical cleric in the Hollywood production Syriana alongside George Clooney and Matt Damon.
