Blusher, blushes and Jacko in loo

Touching up your make-up after using the loo is a common ritual in women's rest rooms around the world.

But when the person using the mirror next to you is Michael Jackson, the scene borders on the bizarre, if not downright scary.

Such was one woman's experience at a shopping mall in Dubai on Saturday.

Jackson, 41, who regularly enjoys luxury breaks in the Middle East, wandered into the ladies' wearing a traditional Arab scarf across his face.

But, as he removed it to touch up his blusher, the offended woman - at the next mirror - screamed in horror and started taking pictures of him on her mobile phone.

The unnamed woman, a teacher from Tunisia who lives in Dubai, tried to take the phone to police as evidence but was confronted by Jackson's minders, who demanded she hand it over.

Star-struck shoppers, at the Ibn Battuta Mall, gathered round as the woman shouted abuse at Jacko. The Neverland singer, who was found not guilty of 14 counts of child molestation earlier this year, was led away to a blacked-out car as police arrived.

Col Abdul Jalil Mehdi, of Dubai police, ordered the woman to hand over the phone so he could delete the pictures. Under United Arab Emirates law, residents are banned from taking unauthorised pictures of someone to sell on for profit.

Col Mehdi said police would not take any action against Jackson as they believe he made an innocent mistake. He added: 'The situation is sorted out now.'