Britons face 1 month in Dubai jail over "friendly kiss"

The pair were arrested last November on accusations of kissing and touching each other intimately in public, their lawyer said. They were sentenced to one month in jail.

The Britons, free on bail, were also fined 1,000 dirhams ($272) for illegal consumption of alcohol, the lawyer said. They are expected to be deported after the completion of their jail sentence.

Their lawyer launched an appeal againt the decision on Sunday, saying there had been no inappropriate kissing, as the two were just friends. A verdict in the appeal is expected on April 4.

"There was no lip kissing. It was just a normal greeting that is not considered offensive," lawyer Khalaf al-Hosani told the court. He claimed the complainant's testimony was contradictory.

"My Ayman is a good boy, he's very wise and mature. I can't believe it," the British man's mother Maida Najafi was quoted as telling the Independent in London. "He knows the rules over there. He would never do that. He wouldn't even do it over here."