Popstar Rihanna was asked to leave an Abu Dhabi mosque because she did not have permission for a photoshoot.
Staff at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque say they asked the singer to leave the compound after her actions were considered to be at odds with the 'sanctity' of the site.

Photos posted on her Instagram account at the weekend show the 25-year-old posing on white marble wearing a head-to-toe hooded black jumpsuit

'Here, the Centre refers to a recent incident, involving a singer who came for a private visit to the mosque, at a gate that is not reserved for visitors, without prior coordination with the Centre's management and without identifying herself,' it said reported The National.

It said the singer 'left without entering the mosque, after being asked to do so, due to the fact that she had taken some pictures that do not conform with the conditions and regulations put in place by the Centre's management to regulate visits in a way that takes the status and sanctity of the mosque into consideration.'

Her followers on Twitter had a mixed opinion of the photos which have since appeared on websites across the world.

'Rihanna may look gorgeous and all but she's covering her head out of fashion not out of respect for the mosque,' wrote one user.

Another tweeter, @Ahmedcarter, wrote: 'Rihanna pics at Sheikh Zayed mosque are disr http:///kmbVne

Wot-eva!.....ℓ̊ hate rihanna!