Miss World Beauty Pageant Moved To Bali After Muslim Protests In Jakarta

The final of Miss World later this month will take place on the Hindu-majority holiday island of Bali instead of near the capital, after days of Muslim hard line protests.

Thousands took to the streets this week to denounce the decision to hold the beauty pageant in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, with protesters burning the organisers in effigy and branding them "infidels".

Hard line influence is strong in areas of the main island Java not far from the capital.

But the government said on Saturday they had decided all events would now be held on Bali, where hard line influence is almost non-existent and which is used to hordes of foreign tourists sunbathing in skimpy swimwear.

Hundreds of protesters, a large number of them women, set upon the headquarters of the local organisers, MNC, waving banners that read “Reject Miss World” and “Go To Hell Miss World”, and burning effigies of the contest’s organisers. News that the “beachwear” segment would feature traditional sarongs instead of bikinis did not soothe the growing protests.

The contest opens in Bali on Sunday and later rounds were due to take place in and around Jakarta, with the winner originally set to be crowned at a venue outside the capital on September 28.