Miss Arab World 2012 pageant held in Cairo

The sixth Miss Arab World pageant was concluded on Monday in Egyptian capital of Cairo, in which Miss Syria beat 16 contestants from 11 Arab countries and won the crown. "I'd like to present this victory to my home country Syria, and I hope I can help the children and civilians who are suffering from the unrest," said Miss Syria Nadeen after being crowned, adding that she is looking forward to the return of the stability of her unrest-ridden country. The competition began late Sunday with attendance of contestants from Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Tunisia, Algeria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, Somalia as well as senior culture officials, famous artists, celebrities, and media representatives from different Arab countries. "It's really very important for the whole Arabs to crown the Miss Arab World after the Arab Spring events," head of the competition committee, Hanan Nasr, told Xinhua. "We along with the Egyptian Tourism Ministry have run this pageant since 2007, but we failed to run it in 2011 due to the unrest in different Arab countries," Nasr said, adding that this year they insisted to organize the pageant to show the beauty of the Arab world, to unify the Arab countries, to send a message to the whole world that Egypt can sponsor such big events and to revive the Egyptian tourism. According to the judging committee of the competition, choosing Miss Arab World doesn't only depend on the appearances of the contestants. "The appearance only takes 20 percent, while the rest of percentage is based on other considerations like their cultural knowledge, their communication capabilities and their manners," head of the judging committee Bakr told Xinhua. While Miss Syria Nadeen won the Miss Arab World crown, another four girls, namely Miss Egypt, Miss Tunisia, Miss Iraq, and Miss Somalia were awarded as the "runner-up" of Miss Arab World. "I'm so happy to won this title, and I wish I can introduce all the good things of Arabic culture to the whole Arab world," said Miss Egypt. "I would like to present this title to my dear country which has been suffering from famine and epidemics for many years , and I wish I can help it overcome all those problems, and save food for the children there," said Miss Somalia.