Rabat: The finalists in the Miss Belgium 2013 beauty contest have ruffled feathers in Morocco after posing, casually clad, outside the Hassan II mosque in Casablanca, the largest in the conservative Muslim kingdom. In one photograph, taken on Monday and published widely on the Internet, 10 of the 20 smiling young women pose in front of the enormous mosque, wearing hot pink vests and miniskirts. The initiative did not go down well with Attajdid, the paper of the Party of Justice and Development, the ruling Islamist group elected in November. “This behaviour could provoke discord and instability. It’s an attack on a place of worship,” the paper grumbled in an editorial.
“Who authorised these young women to pose right in front of the mosque?” it demanded, quoting a lawyer, who added that the interior ministry should open a inquiry. The picture also prompted furious outbursts on Moroccan news websites. “I’m outraged by these photos, which touch our identity and our religion,” wrote one commentator on hesspress.com, one of the most popular such sites. But Assabah, another Moroccan daily, made light of the subject, running an article entitled “Ladies in Wonderland.” Darline Devos, the president of the national Miss Belgium committee, apologised for any upset caused by the aspiring beauty queens, who are in Morocco for photo shoots. “We should adapt to Moroccan traditions,” she said, when contacted.
Man sets himself on fire outside Erdogan’s office
ANKARA: A man who apparently had financial problems set himself alight outside the building housing the Turkish prime minister’s office in Ankara yesterday, Turkish media reported.
The man doused himself in petrol and set himself on fire, but security staff quickly extinguished the blaze, Hurriyet newspaper reported. Television footage showed medical staff carrying the conscious man on a stretcher towards a waiting ambulance.
The incident came two days after a gunman entered the same building in Ankara and fired three blank rounds into the air as the prime minister held a cabinet meeting inside. There were no casualties in that incident and the man, who has previous criminal convictions and was known to the security services, was arrested.
Vatican cancels Syria trip due to danger
VATICAN CITY: The Vatican has cancelled a high-level papal delegation to Syria to promote an end to the conflict due to the deteriorating situation there.
Pope Benedict had originally intended to send seven senior clerics to Damascus, including Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York.
Instead, Cardinal Robert Sarah, head of the Vatican Cor Unum department which coordinates Roman Catholic charities, will visit Lebanon and meet religious and political figures there, including Syrian Church leaders and refugees, the pope said. Speaking to pilgrims and tourists at his weekly general audience, Benedict called on the world powers to help end the civil war in Syria.
Prosecutor orders Internet porn ban
CAIRO: Egypt’s state prosecutor yesterday ordered a ban on Internet pornography, after a previous court order to do so was not implemented. State prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmud “ordered a block on pornography sites,” his office said in a statement.
The official Al Ahram newspaper reported on its website that the order was directed at the interior, telecommunications and information ministries to “take steps to block any pornographic pictures or scenes on the Internet.”Agencies
