LAGOS, Nov 28 (AFP) - Nigeria's top Muslim body moved Thursday to calm tensions fuelled by opposition to the Miss World beauty pageant which have triggered bloody sectarian riots. The Supreme Islamic Council of Nigeria called on Muslims to forgive the author of an article on the contest which was branded blasphemous and denounced a "fatwa" calling for her death. The council's general secretary, Lateef Adegbite, told AFP that the Zamfara State government had no right to issue such an order and that it "should not be followed" by Muslims. The deep tensions between Nigeria's Muslim and Christian communities -- which each represent about half of the country's 120 million population -- erupted once more last week. More than 220 people were killed and 30,000 driven from their homes in the northern city of Kaduna after a protest over a newspaper report triggered three days of sectarian riots. The article, which appeared on November 16 in the Nigerian daily This Day, had defended Miss World from its Muslim critics, suggesting the Prophet Mohammed might have married a contestant. Amid a storm of negative publicity, Miss World organisers abandoned plans to hold the show's closing ceremony in the Nigerian capital Lagos, and shifted it to London. But in Nigeria, the controversy raged on. On Tuesday, Mamuda Shinkafi, deputy governor of the northern state of Zamfara, announced a "fatwa" or Islamic legal ruling calling for This Day fashion writer Isioma Daniel to be killed. The call was immediately condemned by Nigeria's federal government, which does not recognise the Islamic Sharia law code recently reintroduced in Zamfara and 11 more mainly Muslim states. Christian leaders, many of whom fear some Muslims want to "Islamicise" their shared country, called on the government to defend Nigeria's secular constitution. "All the social unrest and violent upheavals we are witnessing now are not unconnected with the mindless introduction of Sharia in some northern states," said Archbishop Ola Makinde of Abuja. "We are not an Islamic state. We are not ready to become one," he said, warning that Christians would take matters into their own hands if the government could not guarantee their safety. Then on Thursday, Nigeria's senior Islamic body moved to calm the tensions, rejecting Zamfara's fatwa out of hand and calling for forgiveness for both Daniel and This Day. "We don't think that this state has the right to make such pronouncements," Adegbite said, noting that Daniel's article had been written outside Zamfara and that she is a Christian. "It has always been our position that Sharia can not be extended to non-Muslims," Adegbite said. "If she has committed a crime she should be prosecuted by the federal government or the Lagos State government under general law." Adegbite also said that the council had "fully accepted" This Day's apology and expressed regret that Daniel had left the country, reportedly to the United States. "We are surprised that she fled the country," he said. "She is welcome to return." There was never much danger that Daniel's "death sentence" would be carried out, her Lagos home is far from Zamfara and she had reportedly already quit the country when it was announced. But the controversy exposed once more the problems surrounding the bitter row over the Sharia. Nigeria's Christian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, publically supports the right of the 12 mainly Muslim northern states to reintroduce Sharia, arguing that forcing his diverse country to obey one law code would trigger rebellions that could destroy it. But several recent scandals -- notably the death sentences imposed on unmarried mothers by several northern courts -- have deeply embarrassed Nigeria abroad and raised tensions at home. Fears that 31-year-old village housewife Amina Lawal might be stoned to death almost caused a boycott by beauty queens that would have aborted the Miss World contest before it began. Lawal is waiting for an date to appeal her conviction, and Obsanjo has vowed her sentence will be quashed by a higher court. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~