Friday, September 13, 2002

A story released today by the Associated Press reports that Organizers of Miss World has asked Nigeria's government for assurances that a single mother's sentence of death by stoning for having sex outside of marriage will not be carried out.

The pageant is to be held Nov. 30 in Nigeria's capital Abuja, and organizers have come under fire from beauty queens, who are threatening to boycott to protest the stoning sentence, and from Nigeria's Muslims, who are opposed to an event they see as immoral.

Miss World president Julia Morley canceled an inspection tour of contestant visiting sites in eastern Nigeria to meet with government ministers about the case of single mother Amina Lawal, said Guy Murray-Bruce, owner of the pageant's Nigerian franchise rights.

''We are appalled that such an action might take place,'' Morley said in a statement. ''This is a situation that we have never come across before.''

The sentence sparked an international outcry. The European Parliament's committee on women's rights on Wednesday unanimously approved a motion calling for a boycott of the pageant to protest the sentence.

Muslim groups have also threatened to disrupt the pageant, which they say is immoral and should not be held in Nigeria during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Nigeria has sub-Saharan Africa's largest Muslim population.

Lawal is the second Nigerian woman to be condemned to death for having sex out of wedlock. The first woman, Safiya Hussaini, had her sentence overturned in March on appeal.