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Beauty queens flee Nigeria amid
riots.
--------------- Death toll climbs as Muslim-Christian clashes continue. ---------------- Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo's bid to showcase his country to the world lay in tatters yesterday as plans to stage the Miss World competition fell apart. Terrified beauty queens fled Nigeria as the organisers of the pageant were forced to relocate it to London amid a fourth day of rioting in the mainly Muslim northern part of the country. Although precise casualty figures were not available, more than 100 people are known to have been killed and more than 300 wounded in the clashes between Muslims and Christians. Thousands have been forced to abandon their homes. Meanwhile, the country's secret police have arrested the editor of the national newspaper that is accused of having fomented the riots by publishing an allegedly blasphemous article last Saturday. The offending article, in ThisDay, suggested that the Prophet Mohammed would probably have married one of the contestants in the beauty pageant, which had been scheduled to take place in Abuja on December 7. The cancellation of the Miss World contest is a setback for Obasanjo, who had hoped Nigeria would benefit from the media exposure. He was quoted by the New York Times as saying: "The beauty queens should not feel that they are the cause of the violence. It could happen any time irresponsible journalism is committed against Islam." One of the frightened contestants summed up the situation thus: "A beauty pageant is not worth people dying over and I want to go home." Despite front-page apologies on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, the ThisDay article has been blamed for a wave of mayhem and murder, mainly in the volatile northern city of Kaduna, although there were reports of arson and other acts of violence in Abuja, not far from the hotel where contestants were staying. Yesterday, the newspaper reported that the editor of its Saturday edition, Simon Kolawole, had been arrested by the State Security Service. On Friday morning, the Nigerian Red Cross reported that more than 100 people had died in overnight fighting, but it has withheld further figures - although it did report that about 4 500 people had been driven from their homes in Kaduna. The president of the organisation, Emmanuel Ijewere, said: " It would be irresponsible to put a figure on casualties. We don't want to increase tensions. Three hundred and twenty people are being treated in hospitals. We have sent tents and blankets." Witnesses said fighting had continued overnight and, as the sun rose yesterday, gunfire could be heard around the poor, religiously mixed southern suburbs of the city. News agencies reported scores of new bodies lying in streets, as residents fled the fighting for the safety of a brewery complex. Witnesses said gangs were murdering people in their homes, and that troops and security forces were shooting demonstrators. Adding to the uncertainty of the death toll was the fact that some of the bodies of people killed by rioters or security forces were thrown down wells or taken away and burned, witnesses said. Mosques and churches were burnt to the ground. Two years ago, rioting between Muslims and Christians in Kaduna left more than 2 000 people dead - and the anti-Miss World protests, degenerating into a sectarian street war, have come as a reprise of those killings. But the violence came as a shock to the 92 beauty queens, who spent Friday under guard in their hotel. The Sun newspaper quoted Miss England, Daniella Luan, 22, as saying: "I'm terrified and I'm packing. There are soldiers all round our hotel. I want to get on the next flight home. I'm scared, terrified. I've been watching the riots on TV and it is only 96km from here." Miss Scotland, Paula Murphy, 24, added: "We're being used as the excuse. People are killing each other and saying it is all about Miss World. I can't have that. "I'm coming home as soon as I possibly can. I saw TV pictures of the rioting when I woke up this morning and I felt sick. A beauty pageant is not worth people dying over and I want to come home. All the girls are in a panic and in tears. There are still more than two weeks before the contest and it is just not worth risking lives." Organisers said in a statement: "This decision [to leave] was taken after careful consideration of all the issues involved and in the overall interests of Nigeria and the contestants participating in this year's edition." Originally, organisers announced they were determined to remain in Nigeria. The finals will now be held in London on December 7. Nigeria was selected to be the host for the contest after a Nigerian contender, Agbani Darego, won last year's competition. But the plan was contentious from the start, after several contestants, including Miss SA, withdrew to protest an Islamic religious court's sentencing to death by stoning of Amina Lawal for bearing a child out of wedlock. The publication of the ThisDay article ignited a wider Muslim protest against the pageant's morality. Sunday Times Foreign Desk. The Mulindwas
communication group
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