Miss Iraq Threatened Kidnap by ISIS
Miss Iraq Threatened Kidnap by ISIS
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BAGHDAD - Shaymaa Qasim Abdelrahman, a beauty queen crowned the first Miss Iraq since 1972 received chilling phonecall warning she would be abducted if she did not join ISIS.
As reported Daily Mail, Shaymaa claimed received the threat after she was made champion in Baghdad on Saturday. The 20 year old, from Kirkuk, was said to have been left distressed by the phone call but insists threats will not stop her.
The student was told to join the caliphate or face being kidnapped.
But fresh from winning the contest, the beauty queen said she was determined to 'continue forward despite any obstacles'.
"I want to prove that the Iraqi woman has her own existence in society, she has her rights like men. I am afraid of nothing, because I am confident that what I am doing is not wrong," she said.
In September, it was reported that organisers of the event were facing an angry backlash from religious hardliners and conservative tribal leaders who said such pageants are un Islamic and threatened public morality.
As reported Daily Mail, Shaymaa claimed received the threat after she was made champion in Baghdad on Saturday. The 20 year old, from Kirkuk, was said to have been left distressed by the phone call but insists threats will not stop her.
The student was told to join the caliphate or face being kidnapped.
But fresh from winning the contest, the beauty queen said she was determined to 'continue forward despite any obstacles'.
"I want to prove that the Iraqi woman has her own existence in society, she has her rights like men. I am afraid of nothing, because I am confident that what I am doing is not wrong," she said.
In September, it was reported that organisers of the event were facing an angry backlash from religious hardliners and conservative tribal leaders who said such pageants are un Islamic and threatened public morality.
(rnz)
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