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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck who wrote (20057)	11/25/2002 9:30:54 AM
From: lorne	Respond to of 27666

Darren. ....." The troubles began with a protest by Muslims in Kaduna last Wednesday over a newspaper article they saw as trivialising their objections to the contest, and escalated on Thursday when the worst of the violence appears to have taken place. ".... Nigeria riots toll 'passes 200' Sunday, 24 November, More than 200 people are now known to have died in violence between Christians and Muslims in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna, relief and civil rights workers say. The figure which emerged after four days of disturbances linked to the now-relocated Miss World beauty contest is double the previous estimate. In addition to 215 bodies counted on the streets and in mortuaries, others were thought to have been buried by their families, Nigerian Red Cross president Emmanuel Ijewere was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency. He added that there had been more killings overnight, despite the curfew imposed on the city where security forces have been trying to contain the situation. The BBC's Yusuf Sarki Muhammad in Kaduna says the figures are credible and could even be on the low side. He says heavily-armed soldiers and policemen have taken over all street corners and that motorists are being stopped and searched. Thousands have been displaced by the violence which was sparked by a newspaper article about the Miss World pageant which has now been called off in Nigeria. The venue was hastily switched to London hours after the disturbances spread to the Nigerian capital Abuja. Beauty queens - who had spent 10 days attending preliminary events mainly in Christian, southern areas of Nigeria - arrived in London on Sunday aboard a specially chartered plane. They expressed their relief at having escaped the violence. The competition is scheduled to go ahead on 7 December. 'No provocation' A tense calm was reported on Sunday in Kaduna, which has a large Christian minority. People were venturing out timidly to try to find food in local markets and some to attend church services, AP reports. Violence subsided on Saturday as soldiers enforced a night-time curfew. It is estimated that more than 1,000 have been injured and more than 11,000 made homeless in the clashes. Civil rights activists said more than 20 churches and 8 mosques have been burned down in the city as well as a number of hotels. They also said there had been allegations that some members of the security forces had killed civilians without provocation. The troubles began with a protest by Muslims in Kaduna last Wednesday over a newspaper article they saw as trivialising their objections to the contest, and escalated on Thursday when the worst of the violence appears to have taken place. Press 'conspiracy' Nigeria won the right to stage the pageant after Nigerian Agbani Darego was crowned Miss World 2001 - the first black African to win the title. Ben Maray, the chairman of the Nigerian organising committee, said a huge opportunity to showcase Nigeria had been lost. Nigeria's Information Minister Jerry Gana pointed a finger at the foreign and domestic media for his country's failed attempt to host the competition. Miss World contestants: Some pulled out earlier "I salute the courage of the contestants. They came all the way here despite the conspiracy of the international press... particularly the British press," he said on state radio. "There's an international conspiracy just to show that an African country like Nigeria cannot host this thing. I think Nigerians should be really angry with the international press," he said, according to the French news agency AFP. He also criticised the Lagos-based ThisDay newspaper, which published the article which offended Muslims and sparked the violence. ThisDay said its editor had been detained by police and that the reporter who wrote the article had resigned. The article, which the paper retracted and repeatedly publicly apologised for, suggested that the Prophet Mohammed would have probably chosen to marry one of the Miss World contestants had he witnessed the beauty pageant. Two years ago, Kaduna saw more than 2,000 deaths in clashes between Christians and Muslims. news.bbc.co.uk

To: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck who wrote (20057)	11/25/2002 9:39:40 AM
From: Richnorth	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 27666

You probably saw the reports slanted against one particularly group.

To: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck who wrote (20057)	11/25/2002 2:13:15 PM
From: lorne	Respond to of 27666

Darren. You said in a post to another poster....." from all accounts (except yours) the riots were started by the moslems "..... It appears there are those in the Nigerian Gov. who agree with you. “After prayers they came from the mosque like warmongers, chanting their ‘Allalu Akbar’ song They started smashing cars,” ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ThisDay Editor arrested as protests spread. Saturday, November 23, 2002 THE Editor of THISDAY on Saturday, Mr. Simon Kolawole, was arrested yesterday in Abuja by the State Security Services (SSS) as rioting sparked by Muslim anger over a newspaper article on Miss World Beauty Pageant yesterday spread to Abuja and to new areas of Kaduna, already scene of 100 deaths. Kolawole was asked to report at the SSS headquarters in connection with last Saturday's cover story on Miss World Beauty Pageant portions of which were considered offensive to Muslims. Mr. Kolawole has since been taken to unknown destination and could not be reached at press time. Miss Isioma Daniel, the news paper's style reporter, has also been asked to report at the SSS office in Abuja. Police swiftly dispersed the Abuja protests, but as a strict 6 pm curfew began in Kaduna, a Red Cross spokesman warned that the death toll was expected to increase as clashes between Muslims and Christians had shifted to four new areas. Report from the city spoke of thousands of civilians fleeing streets littered with corpses in order to seek shelter from the fighting in police barracks. In Abuja, incensed Muslims stormed out of the national mosque after Friday prayers and set fire to cars, including at least one police vehicle, witnesses said. Paramilitary police dispersed the protesters with the use of teargas and made several arrests. “After prayers they came from the mosque like warmongers, chanting their ‘Allalu Akbar’ song They started smashing cars,” an Abuja market trader said at the scene. On Wednesday, Muslim youths burned down ThisDay office in Kaduna to protest a “blasphemous” article against prophet Mohammed. The pageant is due to take place in Abuja on December 7 and the presence of 90 young women contestants in the country during the holy month of ramadan has offended many Muslims. “The security situation in Kaduna is extremely unstable,” Nigerian Red Cross spokesman Patrick Bawa said. “We have been told the situation is spreading to other parts of the city and the state outside Kaduna.” Residents said fighting had broken out in the south of the city, from where smoke could be seen rising. Shehu Sani, head of Kaduna-based Civil Rights Congress, said: “The situation has further aggravated, there have been more burnings of churches and mosques. Initially the attacks were mostly by Muslims, but now Christians are retaliating.” Many of the corpses in the streets of Kaduna appeared to have been shot before being burned. Witnesses said that police had shot demonstrators and that others were killed in clashes. “We are close to the police barracks, but still these boys had the courage to attack us.” nigerians.net

To: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck who wrote (20057)	11/25/2002 2:15:51 PM
From: lorne	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 27666

And this.... " Nigerian muslims were incensed that the event, already an affront to their conservative ideas about feminine modesty, would be held during the muslim holy month of Ramadan" ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Riots force Miss World out of Abuja • Show moves to London By WALE AKINOLA with agency reports Sunday, November 24, 2002 The organisers of the Miss World beauty contest yesterday abandoned plans to hold the event in Nigeria after bloody protests by muslims opposed to the event.The Miss World Organisation and Nigeria producers, Silverbird Productions, said the grand finale of the pageant would still take place on December 7 as planned but in London. Hours before the change of venue was announced, the Federal Government ordered the police to investigate the Thisday’s report that sparked the protests over the pageant with a view to charging Leaders and Company, owners of the paper and the writer of the offensive piece to court. Mr. Simon Kolawole, the editor of Thisday on Saturday, which published the report was also arrested. Yet undetermined number of people died in riots that broke out in Kaduna on Thursday after muslim youths attacked Thisday newspaper, Kaduna office in protest against an article about the pageant. Friday, the unrest spread to Abuja. The decision to move the pageant from Abuja, the Nigerian capital, is considered in government quarters as a blow to President Olusegun Obasanjo who had given the pageant his backing and whose wife was one of the event’s most high profile supporters. It is also a dent to the image of Nigeria. Organisers had hoped that the spectacle, billed as the world’s most watched television event, would brighten the image of Africa’s most populous nation as a tourist destination. Instead, media coverage has focused on controversy over the death sentences slapped on two unmarried mothers by Sharia courts and on vicious mob violence. Nigerian muslims were incensed that the event, already an affront to their conservative ideas about feminine modesty, would be held during the muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Federal Government Friday directed the police to commence immediate investigation into the Thisday’s report that sparked off the Kaduna rioting with a view to charging the owners and writers of the offensive piece to court. President Olusegun Obasanjo, on a three-day visit to Lagos, described the report as insensitive. "The publication was insensitive and irresponsible. This is the holy month of Ramadan Fast. I have directed the police to look into the content of the publication with a view to charging the writer to court. I have also got in contact with the Sultan of Sokoto and the governor of Kaduna State to uphold peace in the State", the president said. The editor of Thisday on Saturday, Mr. Simon Kolawole, was arrested Friday in Abuja by the State Security Services (SSS). Kolawole was asked to report at the SSS headquarters in connection with penultimate Saturday’s cover story on Miss World beauty pageant, portions of which were considered offensive to muslims. Kolawole has since been taken to an unknown destination and could not be reached at press time. Miss Isioma Daniel, the newspaper’s style reporter, has also been asked to report at the SSS office in Abuja. Police swiftly dispersed Friday’s Abuja’s protests. But as at 6 p.m. when curfew began in Kaduna, a Red Cross spokesman warned that the death toll was expected to increase as clashes between Muslims and Christians had shifted to four new areas. Report from the city spoke of thousands of civilians fleeing streets littered with corpses in order to seek shelter from the fighting in police barracks. In Abuja, incensed Muslims stormed out of the national mosque after Friday prayers and set fire to cars, including at least one police vehicle, witnesses said. Paramilitary police dispersed the protesters with the use of teargas and made several arrests. "After prayers they came from the mosque like warmongers, chanting their ‘Allalu Akbar’ song They started smashing cars," an Abuja market trader said at the scene. On Wednesday, Muslim youths burned down ThisDay office in Kaduna to protest a "blasphemous" article against prophet Mohammed. The pageant is due to take place in Abuja on December 7 and the presence of 90 young women contestants in the country during the holy month of Ramadan has offended many Muslims. "The security situation in Kaduna is extremely unstable," Nigerian Red Cross spokesman Patrick Bawa said. "We have been told the situation is spreading to other parts of the city and the state outside Kaduna." Residents said fighting had broken out in the south of the city, from where smoke could be seen rising. Shehu Sani, head of Kaduna-based Civil Rights Congress, said: "The situation has further aggravated, there have been more burnings of churches and mosques. Initially the attacks were mostly by Muslims, but now Christians are retaliating." nigerians.net