This has all become so utterly obscene that I honestly don't know what to say.

ABCNEWS.com : Nigerian Calls for Death of Writer: The deputy governor of a largely Islamic state in northern Nigeria has called on Muslims to kill the Nigerian writer of a newspaper article about the Miss World beauty pageant that sparked deadly religious riots. "Just like the blasphemous Indian writer Salman Rushdie, the blood of Isioma Daniel can be shed," Zamfara Deputy Governor Mahamoud Shinkafi told a gathering of Muslim groups in the state capital, Gusau, on Monday.

Author of blasphemous Miss World article flees Nigeria: The author of an article on the Miss World pageant considered blasphemous by many Nigerian Muslims has fled the country after a violent backlash, a senior source at her former newspaper told AFP. The source, who asked not to be identified, said: "I can confirm to you that she has left Nigeria." [...] Today the mainly Muslim state of Zamfara announced a fatwa calling Muslims to kill the reporter, Isioma Daniel.

I hadn't realized that the author was a woman. None of the previous articles I'd seen had mentioned her sex. That must make things even worse for her; not only did she make fun of Mohammed -- assuming, for some bizarre reason, that people would have a sense of humor about it -- but she's a blasphemous woman in a state where women get stoned for lesser offenses such as adultery (or being raped, as the case may be).

State's fatwa on journalist will not stand: Nigerian Govt: Nigeria's federal government rejected on Tuesday a "fatwa" announced by a mainly Muslim state in the north of the country which called for a journalist to be killed. Zamfara State had said it endorsed an Islamic decree calling for Muslims to slay Isioma Daniel, a fashion writer who offended some Muslims with an article on the Miss World beauty pageant. But Information Minister Jerry Gana, who acts as a spokesman for Nigeria's secular government, dismissed the decree as "null and void" and promised it would not be enforced.

Well, I suppose having the national government state that it wouldn't be enforced at least assures the world that the national government doesn't think this is a good idea. That said, it's a secular government with absolutely no power to enforce that statement. If some religious fanatic somewhere finds Ms Daniel, she will most certainly die.

And then there will probably be more riots.

Miss World chief blames press for Nigeria debacle: The president of the Miss World Organisation, Julia Morley, angrily blamed the international media on Saturday for the collapse of plans to host the pageant in Nigeria. "Quite honestly, you -- not individually -- but you as a group, you pulled Nigeria down and you allowed Nigeria to be humiliated," Morley told reporters at the pageant's Abuja hotel base. The Miss World party was due to leave the hotel later in the night to board a private charter plane to take it to London, the new venue of the show's December 7 grand finale, a Miss World spokeswoman Stella Din said. [.....] In particular, Morley took exception to stories which appeared in the international press about the use of amputation as a punishment by Islamic courts in northern Nigeria. At least three convicted thieves have had their hands cut off in northern Nigeria since the region began reintroducing the Sharia in 1999. Earlier this month rights lawyer Hauwa Ibrahim told reporters that 13 more people, including nine children under 18, were waiting in jails in Sokoto and Katsina state to have the hands chopped. Morley said this story had been "created" and demanded journalists apologise.

I see.

So apparently, it's the press' fault for reporting -- truthfully -- that Nigeria penalizes thieves by cutting off their hands. Apparently, it's the press' fault that Nigerians felt that the appropriate response to an admittedly ill-timed and poorly executed attempt at religious humor was to slaughter large numbers of fellow Nigerians.

What a grotesque idiot. Assuming that the pageant recovers from this to be held again next year -- one does wonder why they bother, but ... whatever -- they definitely need a new executive director. Preferably one with a brain.

Miss Canada re-enters world pageant: Miss Canada Lynsey Bennett has decided to re-enter the rescheduled Miss World contest, the 22-year-old announced today. Pageant officials said Monday they would allow Bennett to compete in London, where it has been moved after riots broke out in its original location of Abuja, Nigeria. Officials had originally told the Carleton University student that by leaving riot-torn Nigeria early, she had forfeited her right to continue in the pageant. [....] "The only reason why I boycotted going in Nigeria was the situation that we were in with the riots. I didn't agree with the violence that was taking place. I didn't want to be associated with that." Bennett returned to her Ottawa home on Sunday night having lost 12 pounds and plenty of sleep in Abuja, Nigeria, where the pageant was originally to be held.

No comment. Absolutely none. None whatsoever.

Although, you know, the dignified thing to have done would have been to simply cancel this year's edition of the pageant. I mean, how do you manage this? "Well, here we are in good old London, where we moved after Nigerians decided to slaughter each other! Let's celebrate by picking our new Miss World!" You can't mention it without highlighting the utter and absolute triviality of the pageant, and you can't not mention it without slighting the dead. What do you do? How do you finesse this issue?

Trucks ferried bodies from hospitals in Nigeria's northern city of Kaduna for mass burials yesterday as calm returned after deadly riots over the Miss World beauty pageant. Human rights workers helping distraught relatives cope with Kaduna's latest sectarian conflict said Muslims had begun burying their dead as soon as the remains were identified among the more than 200 bodies. [.....] The pageant was hastily relocated to London, but there pageant organizers came up against more opposition, with some media and lobby groups accusing them of having blood on their hands. Glenda Jackson, the Oscar-winning actress turned Parliament member, led calls for the contest scheduled for Dec. 7 to be scrapped. ''The best thing to do after such fratricide and bloodletting is to cancel the competition,'' she said.