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MANILA, Philippines - Miss Afghanistan Vida Samadzai, condemned in her homeland for parading in a bikini at the Miss Earth contest, won the pageant's first "beauty for a cause" award on Sunday. The 23-year-old Samadzai, the first Afghan in three decades to take part in a beauty contest, failed to make it to the contest's semifinals. But judges announced that, for the first time, they were handing out a "beauty for a cause" prize. They awarded it to Samadzai for "symbolizing the newfound confidence, courage and spirit of today's women" and "representing the victory of women's rights and various social,...

Afghanistan (AP) -- A beauty pageant contestant could be prosecuted if she returns to her native Afghanistan. The twenty-three-year-old Vida Samadzai is representing Afghanistan in the Miss Earth pageant in the Philippines. She says she entered the contest to raise awareness of the plight of Afghan women. But the deputy head of Afghanistan's Supreme Court says she had betrayed Afghan culture and potentially broken the law by parading in a bikini during qualifying for the pageant. The court says such a display of the female body goes against Islam. The woman left Afghanistan in 1996 and now studies at California...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A 23-year-old woman who is the first Afghan in three decades to take part in a beauty pageant could face prosecution if she returns to her native country, a senior justice official said Saturday. Fazel Ahmad Manawi, deputy head of Afghanistan's Supreme Court, told The Associated Press that Vida Samadzai, a college student in California, had betrayed Afghan culture by appearing at the Miss Earth contest in a bikini -- and may have also broken the law. "I hope that this lady regrets her actions," Mamawi said. He added that Afghan prosecutors may open an investigation, but...

Court condemns pageant entrant - From a correspondent in Kabul - 30 Oct 2003 A WOMAN competing in a beauty pageant as Miss Afghanistan has been criticised by that nation's Supreme Court for acting against Islamic law and Afghan culture. Vida Samadzai last week paraded down a catwalk in a red bikini during a public appearance at the Miss Earth competition in the Philippines. The 23-year-old is the first Afghan to participate in the annual contest, which is scheduled to announce a winner on November 9. Samadzai reportedly left her home country for the United States in the mid-1990s. She...

Miss Afghanistan Vida Samadzai walks during the presentation of the 60 candidates for Miss Earth 2003 international beauty pageant in Manila. The 25 year-old Kabul born beauty left Afghanistan in 1996 to live in California. Samadzi who is taking up international business at University Cal State Fullerton plans to visit Kabul soon. Miss Earth coronation night will be held 09 November.(AFP/File/Romeo Gacad)

"Naked" Miss Afghanistan slammedAFP27oct03 PRESIDENT Hamid Karzai's minister for women's affairs yesterday condemned Miss Afghanistan, as Vida Samadzai became the country's first woman in the post-Taliban era to appear in a bikini during a beauty contest in Manila. "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....

Samadzai has lived in the US since 1996 Afghanistan is to compete in a beauty contest for the first time in more than 30 years and almost two years after the fall of the oppressive Taleban regime. Vida Samadzai, 25, who has lived in the United States since 1996, will compete alongside 60 other women from across the world for the Miss Earth title in Manila, the Philippines, contest organisers said. Ms Samadzai, or Miss Afghanistan as she will be known in the competition, will take part in all sections of the contest, including the swimsuit section. It is a...