Sultan of Brunei’s hotels in Los Angeles targeted over sharia law

Two landmark Los Angeles hotels have become the target of angry protests from celebrities and gay rights activists because of harsh new laws in the Southeast Asian sultanate of Brunei.

The luxury Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air are both part of the Dorchester Collection, a group owned by the government of the tiny, oil-rich nation.

Brunei last week imposed new criminal codes, based on Islamic law, with brutal penalties for homosexuality and adultery, including death by stoning.

Organisers have abruptly cancelled several events planned for the Beverly Hills Hotel and big name celebrities have vowed on social media to stay away - urging others to do the same.

On Monday, former US chat show host Jay Leno joined the chorus of condemnation at a demonstration along Sunset Boulevard across from the Beverly Hills Hotel. "This is 2014, not 1814," Leno, the former star of the Tonight Show, told dozens of placard-waving protesters.

The uproar has put Beverly Hills civic and business leaders in a delicate position, trying to balance opposition to the laws with support for a local cultural monument and economic engine.