Dancing Warlock
El Chacho
http://wire.ap.org/?FRONTID=AFRICA&SLUG=NIGERIA-MISS-WORLD
NOVEMBER 22, 20:50 ET
Miss World Moves Pageant to London
By D'ARCY DORAN
Associated Press Writer
AP/Saurabh Das [31K]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KADUNA, Nigeria (AP) "” The Miss World pageant was canceled in Nigeria after about 100 people died in rioting triggered by the contest and a newspaper's reference to the prophet Muhammad. Organizers on Saturday moved the event to London.
The decision followed a third day of battles Friday between Muslims and Christians, leaving mosques and churches smoldering and charred bodies lying in the dusty streets.
Officials said Miss World was moving to London ``in the overall interests of Nigeria and the contestants.'' The brief statement released shortly after midnight in the capital, Abuja, did not elaborate further on reasons for the change. It was signed by Guy Murray-Bruce, the pageant's top official in Nigeria.
The London show was set for Dec. 7, the same day it had been planned for Nigeria.
No government officials were immediately available for comment.
The bloodshed was worst in the northern city of Kaduna, where it started Wednesday, but on Friday it spread to Abuja, the capital, where the beauty contest was to be held.
Red Cross officials said about 100 people had been killed and 500 injured in three days.
Fueling the clashes are long-standing hostilities between the various tribes of Muslims and Christians in Africa's most populous nation, where rioting and fighting between the groups is commonplace. Previous riots in Kaduna have escalated into religious battles that have killed hundreds since civilian government replaced military rule in 1999.
Islamic groups have complained for months that beauty pageant scheduled promotes promiscuity.
Things worsened after ThisDay newspaper in Kaduna published an article last Saturday suggesting that Islam's prophet would have approved of the pageant.
``What would Muhammad think? In all honesty, he would probably have chosen a wife from among them,'' Isioma Daniel wrote.
After Muslims called it offensive, the newspaper published a brief front-page apology Monday, and a lengthier retraction Thursday that said the passage had run by mistake.
Muslims gathered after prayers outside the national mosque in the usually placid capital 225 miles northeast of here and then stormed through town, burning cars and assaulting bystanders they believed to be Christian outside plush international hotels.
Police firing tear gas restored calm in Abuja within hours. But the melee in Kaduna, a religiously mixed city of several million people, continued in defiance of a round-the-clock police curfew.
Bands of Muslims, some armed with ceremonial daggers, stabbed and set fire to passers-by. Young men shouting ``Allahu Akhbar,'' or ``God is great,'' ignited makeshift barricades of tires and garbage. Christian youths smashed windows and burned mosques.
Plumes of smoke rose over Kaduna Friday as both sides burned and demolished homes in the segregated ethnic neighborhoods across this bustling market city. In one Christian minority district, an old woman sifted through the smoking ruins of her house to retrieve pots and plans.
Nearby, Tunde Adeyemi, a 25-year-old Christian, related how he and friends fought off Muslims. ``We had only stones. They were shooting us, and we were stoning them,'' he said.
But Joe Adamu, a Muslim tailor, said Christians were armed with automatic weapons, while the Muslims had only stones and knives.
Five churches and an undetermined number of mosques had been burned by Friday. Red Cross workers retrieved burned bodies for burial.
Through the violence, the Miss World contestants remained under Nigerian police and army guard in the Nicon Hilton in Abuja, the nation's fanciest hotel. President Olusegun Obasanjo said their security would be tightened.
Muslim opposition had already prompted organizers to postpone the finale until after the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Pageant publicist Stella Din said that she was saddened by the deaths but insisted they were not the pageant's fault.
Obasanjo agreed, saying: ``The beauty queens should not feel that they are the cause of the violence. It could happen at any time irresponsible journalism is committed against Islam.''
The U.S. State Department appealed for an end to the violence. ``We have welcomed assurances by the government for the safety of the Miss World contestants,'' state department spokesman Philip Reeker said.
Some Kaduna residents sought protection at police stations and military bases. But others accused police and soldiers of gunning down rioters. Shehu Sani of the Kaduna-based Civil Rights Congress said he was shown the bodies of 10 Muslim men who witnesses said were shot by police near a mosque Friday.
Authorities did not immediately comment.
Bello Yawa, a 50-year-old Muslim, clutched his face and wept when he saw the body of his adult son lying on a street corner.
``This morning I closed the gates to my house. The army and police came and forced their way in. They took my two sons and brought them outside, and they didn't return,'' he said. ``I don't know why ... even policemen have turned against us. They are not supposed to take sides.''
Gunshots continued into the evening. Witnesses said fighting continued in at least one neighborhood, as flames consumed small dwellings.
Fearing violence could spread, security forces patrolled other major cities Friday, including the northern trading hub of Kano, where Muslim women peacefully protested.
``We are calling on the government to stop Miss World, this show of shame. For women to expose herself to men other than their husbands is forbidden,'' said one of the protesters, Hadiza Usman.
Sad and disturbing, indeed. I guess this is an education for those of us who can't imagine something like what's happening in Nigeria. One more thing....IT'S A BEAUTY CONTEST, FOR GOODNESS SAKES!!!😱
NOVEMBER 22, 20:50 ET
Miss World Moves Pageant to London
By D'ARCY DORAN
Associated Press Writer
AP/Saurabh Das [31K]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KADUNA, Nigeria (AP) "” The Miss World pageant was canceled in Nigeria after about 100 people died in rioting triggered by the contest and a newspaper's reference to the prophet Muhammad. Organizers on Saturday moved the event to London.
The decision followed a third day of battles Friday between Muslims and Christians, leaving mosques and churches smoldering and charred bodies lying in the dusty streets.
Officials said Miss World was moving to London ``in the overall interests of Nigeria and the contestants.'' The brief statement released shortly after midnight in the capital, Abuja, did not elaborate further on reasons for the change. It was signed by Guy Murray-Bruce, the pageant's top official in Nigeria.
The London show was set for Dec. 7, the same day it had been planned for Nigeria.
No government officials were immediately available for comment.
The bloodshed was worst in the northern city of Kaduna, where it started Wednesday, but on Friday it spread to Abuja, the capital, where the beauty contest was to be held.
Red Cross officials said about 100 people had been killed and 500 injured in three days.
Fueling the clashes are long-standing hostilities between the various tribes of Muslims and Christians in Africa's most populous nation, where rioting and fighting between the groups is commonplace. Previous riots in Kaduna have escalated into religious battles that have killed hundreds since civilian government replaced military rule in 1999.
Islamic groups have complained for months that beauty pageant scheduled promotes promiscuity.
Things worsened after ThisDay newspaper in Kaduna published an article last Saturday suggesting that Islam's prophet would have approved of the pageant.
``What would Muhammad think? In all honesty, he would probably have chosen a wife from among them,'' Isioma Daniel wrote.
After Muslims called it offensive, the newspaper published a brief front-page apology Monday, and a lengthier retraction Thursday that said the passage had run by mistake.
Muslims gathered after prayers outside the national mosque in the usually placid capital 225 miles northeast of here and then stormed through town, burning cars and assaulting bystanders they believed to be Christian outside plush international hotels.
Police firing tear gas restored calm in Abuja within hours. But the melee in Kaduna, a religiously mixed city of several million people, continued in defiance of a round-the-clock police curfew.
Bands of Muslims, some armed with ceremonial daggers, stabbed and set fire to passers-by. Young men shouting ``Allahu Akhbar,'' or ``God is great,'' ignited makeshift barricades of tires and garbage. Christian youths smashed windows and burned mosques.
Plumes of smoke rose over Kaduna Friday as both sides burned and demolished homes in the segregated ethnic neighborhoods across this bustling market city. In one Christian minority district, an old woman sifted through the smoking ruins of her house to retrieve pots and plans.
Nearby, Tunde Adeyemi, a 25-year-old Christian, related how he and friends fought off Muslims. ``We had only stones. They were shooting us, and we were stoning them,'' he said.
But Joe Adamu, a Muslim tailor, said Christians were armed with automatic weapons, while the Muslims had only stones and knives.
Five churches and an undetermined number of mosques had been burned by Friday. Red Cross workers retrieved burned bodies for burial.
Through the violence, the Miss World contestants remained under Nigerian police and army guard in the Nicon Hilton in Abuja, the nation's fanciest hotel. President Olusegun Obasanjo said their security would be tightened.
Muslim opposition had already prompted organizers to postpone the finale until after the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Pageant publicist Stella Din said that she was saddened by the deaths but insisted they were not the pageant's fault.
Obasanjo agreed, saying: ``The beauty queens should not feel that they are the cause of the violence. It could happen at any time irresponsible journalism is committed against Islam.''
The U.S. State Department appealed for an end to the violence. ``We have welcomed assurances by the government for the safety of the Miss World contestants,'' state department spokesman Philip Reeker said.
Some Kaduna residents sought protection at police stations and military bases. But others accused police and soldiers of gunning down rioters. Shehu Sani of the Kaduna-based Civil Rights Congress said he was shown the bodies of 10 Muslim men who witnesses said were shot by police near a mosque Friday.
Authorities did not immediately comment.
Bello Yawa, a 50-year-old Muslim, clutched his face and wept when he saw the body of his adult son lying on a street corner.
``This morning I closed the gates to my house. The army and police came and forced their way in. They took my two sons and brought them outside, and they didn't return,'' he said. ``I don't know why ... even policemen have turned against us. They are not supposed to take sides.''
Gunshots continued into the evening. Witnesses said fighting continued in at least one neighborhood, as flames consumed small dwellings.
Fearing violence could spread, security forces patrolled other major cities Friday, including the northern trading hub of Kano, where Muslim women peacefully protested.
``We are calling on the government to stop Miss World, this show of shame. For women to expose herself to men other than their husbands is forbidden,'' said one of the protesters, Hadiza Usman.
Sad and disturbing, indeed. I guess this is an education for those of us who can't imagine something like what's happening in Nigeria. One more thing....IT'S A BEAUTY CONTEST, FOR GOODNESS SAKES!!!😱