Riots force Miss World out of Nigeria, death toll reaches 200<\/p>\n
Agencies, Kaduna, Nigeria\/London<\/p>\n
Riots triggered by Muslim opposition to the Miss World beauty
\npageant forced the event out of Nigeria on Sunday, as a civil
\nrights group said the death toll from the violence had risen to
\nmore than 200.<\/p>\n
More than 200 people have died, 1,125 have been injured and
\n11,000 driven from their homes in ongoing sectarian violence in
\nthe northern Nigerian city of Kaduna, the president of the
\nNigerian Red Cross told AFP on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Emmanuel Ijewere said most of the dead had been killed in
\nattacks and revenge attacks by rival Christian and Muslim gangs
\nand that, contrary to reports, fighting had continued overnight
\nin the flashpoint city.<\/p>\n
\"There has not been calm overnight, there have been more
\nkillings,\" he said by telephone. \"More people are coming in for
\ntreatment, this has continued and we're expecting more trouble
\ntoday.\"<\/p>\n
Fighting was sparked in Kaduna last Wednesday by Muslim youths
\nwho burned a newspaper office in protest against an article on
\nthe Miss World beauty pageant that they regarded as insulting to
\nthe Prophet Mohammad.<\/p>\n
On Thursday the trouble degenerated into vicious bloodletting
\nbetween the flashpoint city's Christian and Muslim populations,
\naccompanied by bloody clashes between demonstrators and security
\nforces.<\/p>\n
\"The 11,000 people driven from their homes are from both
\nsides, either people whose homes have been burned or who are
\nliving in the war zones. Most have had their homes burnt,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Ijewere's estimated death toll of more than 200, which he said
\nwas collated at 7pm (1800 GMT) Saturday, tallies with a total
\ngiven AFP Saturday by the Kaduna-based rights group, the Civil
\nRights Congress (CRC).<\/p>\n
Some 90 Miss World contestants flew out of the Nigerian
\ncapital Abuja bound for London, a witness said, after officials
\nsaid the event had been moved because of the bad publicity
\nsurrounding an outbreak of anti-Miss World protests.<\/p>\n
The privately chartered planed left Abuja at around 3:30 a.m.
\n(9:30 a.m. Jakarta time). It headed for the British capital,
\nwhich will now host the beauty pageant's Dec. 7 grand finale.<\/p>\n
Violence continued in parts of the northern city of Kaduna,
\nwhere 15 churches and eight mosques have been burned to the
\nground in two days of sectarian violence, said Shehu Sani, head
\nof the CRC.<\/p>\n
Sani said observers had counted 200 dead and 600 injured in
\nfighting with security forces and hate attacks by rival Muslim
\nand Christian gangs.<\/p>\n
Organizers had hoped that the beauty contest, billed as the
\nworld's most watched television event, would brighten the image
\nof Africa's most populous nation as a tourist destination.<\/p>\n
Instead it provoked protests, at first confined to angry
\nstatements by Islamic leaders and religious scholars, but then
\nescalating after the contestants arrived in Abuja this month.<\/p>\n
The final straw came on Saturday last week when a Nigerian
\ndaily published an article previewing the pageant. The article
\nwas considered an insult to the Prophet.<\/p>\n
Violence erupted in Kaduna when Muslim youths torched the
\nlocal office of the newspaper responsible, and then fell to
\nfighting with Christians and security forces.<\/p>\n
On Sunday afternoon, weary Miss World contestants arrived in
\nLondon. Dressed casually in jeans, sweaters and blouses, the
\ncontestants emerged pushing heavily laden baggage trollies, and
\nwere shepherded to a waiting bus by organizers.<\/p>\n
\"I feel very well. I'm happy to be back in London,\" said Miss
\nFrance Caroline Chamorand.<\/p>\n
\"I am happy to be home, excited. Obviously it's been quite
\ndaunting but I'm just happy to be home, looking forward to seeing
\nmy family,\" said Miss England, 22-year-old Daniella Luan.<\/p>",
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