Islamic authorities in the northern Nigerian state...

Islamic authorities in the northern Nigerian state of Zamfara issued a fatwa urging Muslims to kill Isioma Daniel, a writer for the private daily This Day, whose November 16 article about the Miss World pageant sparked deadly riots across the country.According to sources in the southern city of Lagos, the order to kill Daniel was passed early the morning after a meeting between members of the Zamfara State government and representatives of at least 20 Islamic organizations. Although the newspaper had retracted the story and issued several front-page apologies, Zamfara State deputy governor Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi insisted that, "It is binding on all Muslims wherever they are, to consider the killing of the writer as a religious duty." However "This Day reported that the Zamfara State government was isolated by the Islamic world as the Federal Government, the authorities of the Saudi Arabia Kingdom, the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA) and Islamic clerics across the country denounced the move. Also Miss World Agbani Darego, 19, condemned the death sentence and appealed for calm in her home country. She admitted Isomia, who has fled to the US, was wrong to write the article but there was no excuse for the violence and 200 deaths."Freedom of expression is an international human right guaranteed to all people everywhere by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. "Journalists should never be threatened with violence or death because of what they write, or because of the opinions they express."