• Text size
  • Send this article to a friend
  • Print this article

Beirut: the Arab playground where a bottle of bubbly can buy you a prostitute

The blonde hair and pale skin say the girls are from eastern Europe, but the thumping rhythms sound distinctly Arabic, as do the cat-calls from the men watching intently as the scantily clad girl curls her leg around the dance pole.

Hands reach out to touch, but here in one of Lebanon’s so-called super-nightclubs a girl’s company is paid for in bottles of champagne.