Ms. Afghanistan wins special Ms. Earth award

Denounced and all but disowned by her country of birth, Miss Afghanistan Vida Samadzai won a special award at an international beauty contest held in the Philippines Sunday night.

Samadzai, 23, the first Afghan woman in the post-Taliban era to appear in public in a bikini, won the special award "Miss Earth Beauties for a Cause" late Sunday, organizers told AFP.

Miss Honduras, 25 year-old Dania Prince, bested Samadzai and 55 other contestants and was crowned Miss Earth 2003.

Samadzai, who lives in the United States, is the first Afghan woman in 30 years to take part in an international beauty contest. The previous Afghan titlist, Zohra Daoud, fled to the United States after the 1979 Soviet invasion.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s minister for women’s affairs last month condemned Samadzai, a dark-haired, black-eyed beauty after the woman’s picture in a two-piece red bikini landed in the international press.

"Appearing naked before a camera or television is not women’s freedom but in my opinion is to entertain men," Minister Habiba Surabi said. "We condemn Vida Samadzai, she is not representing Afghanistan’s women, and this is not women’s freedom."

Surabi said according to Afghan culture women should not demonstrate their worth using their "beauty or bodies" but by their skills and knowledge.

Founded in 2001, the Miss Earth pageant styles itself as "a vehicle in promoting environmental advocacy worldwide." Previous winners promoted projects and events to preserve the environment, the organizers said in a statement. — AFP