Electronic Newspaper, Singapore
April 15 2006

Miss Iraq goes into hiding

Fifth-placed winner takes crown but fears being targeted by religious
extremists
April 15, 2006

SHE took fifth place in Iraq’s national beauty contest last week, but
Ms Silva Shahakian is now wearing the Miss Iraq crown.

That’s because the original winner stepped down four days after the
contest after receiving death threats.

The first, second and third runners-up also bowed out for the same
reason.

Now, Ms Shahakian, who is an Iraqi Christian, has gone into hiding.

She fears she will be targeted by Islamic militants, said a source
familiar with the pageant.

The pageant was held in a Baghdad social club and the initial winner,
Ms Tamar Goregian, an Armenian Iraqi, returned the crown four days
later, said the source. The man spoke on condition of anonymity,
saying he too feared retribution from militants.

Ms Shahakian’s whereabouts are unknown, but she was quoted by ABC’s
Good Morning America as saying that she will keep her title.

TAKING THE CHANCE

‘This chance does not come to every girl. So I’m lucky to have that.
I’m not going to lose it,’ she said in the programme. ‘I’ll take
care. I will change my living place. I would like to take that
chance. I will do my best.’

ABC reported that Ms Goregian received threats from a group of
religious extremists who referred to her as ‘the queen of infidels’
for participating in the contest.

Her four-day reign is believed to be the shortest in the pageant’s
60-year history. The pageant director told ABC that he respected her
decision.

‘The country is undergoing rough times, and we understand her desire
to protect herself and her family,’ he said.

Pageant organisers were planning to hand the crown over to runner-up
Mona Hilmi, an Iraqi Sunni Muslim.

One of the organisers said she was ‘equally intelligent and
beautiful’.

Apparently, she declined, although news reports did not elaborate.

The second and third runners-up also turned down the title for
security concerns, although they had not received specific threats.

Beauty pageants in Iraq usually attract girls from wealthy, liberal
families who often have a Western education.

The contest was the first to be held in Iraq since the US-led
invasion in 2003, according to ABC.

The network said the pageant organisers are hoping to send the winner
to the Miss Universe pageant in Los Angeles on 23 Jul. – AP.