A British businessman convicted of engaging in sexual acts on a Dubai beach said on Monday he was seeking to return to the Gulf emirate despite being deported last week.
Vince Acors, 34, told a news conference in London his behavior had been unacceptable, but he denied having sex in public with Michelle Palmer, the British woman also convicted over the incident in July.
"We were obviously on the beach, and the definition of sex in this country is different to the definition of sex in the Middle East," he said. "There would have been some physical contact, but intercourse did not take place."
The pair spent a month in jail in Dubai after being convicted in October on two charges of engaging in sexual activity outside of wedlock, and for doing so in public.
Local laws strictly control drinking and ban public displays of affection.
He said he was not angry over his experience, saying he had been very naive. He said he planned to apply for permission to return to Dubai after any ban on his readmission was lifted.
Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates, charts a delicate course between maintaining its Muslim identity and catering for a cosmopolitan expatriate population and a booming tourism industry.
