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Miss Iraq 2015 warned by ISIS she will be abducted if she doesn't join them

More than 150 women applied for Miss Iraq pageant, which organizers said was a chance to “create life in Iraq” and “revive our country” after years of bloodshed and internal chaos.

Miss Iraq  2015, Shaima Qassem Abdulrahman

Miss Iraq  2015, Shaima Qassem Abdulrahman, a 20-year-old economics student is the first woman to be crowned Miss Iraq since 1972, winning the contest on Saturday.

On Tuesday, she received a phonecall warning she would be abducted if she doesn't join  ISIS, according to reports.

The beauty queen said she is determined to 'continue forward despite any obstacles'. And she told NBC News: 'I want to prove that the Iraqi woman has her own existence in society, she has her rights like men. I am afraid of nothing, because I am confident that what I am doing is not wrong.'

According to NBC News, “More than 150 women applied for Miss Iraq pageant, which organizers said was a chance to “create life in Iraq” and “revive our country” after years of bloodshed and internal chaos.

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But a backlash saw 15 contestants drop out of the competition, according to one of the judges, Iraqi fashion designer Sinan Kamel. Reuters reported that least two of these women had received death threats.”

The Jerusalem Post reports, “The beauty queen from the city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq was distressed by the phone call, but has said that she will not let the threat stop her. She expressed her determination to “continue forward despite any obstacles,” according to a report published by the organizers of the Miss Iraq competition.

The pageant’s televised finale, originally set for October 1, had been moved back to December after threats by tribal leaders opposed to young women from their families taking part.”

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