Spain joins Miss World pageant boycott

MADRID, Spain -- Spain has joined an international boycott of the Miss World pageant to show solidarity with a Nigerian woman sentenced to death for adultery.

The Miss Espana competition issued a statement Tuesday saying it was heeding an appeal by the Spanish Parliament.

The European Parliament women's rights committee also has called for a boycott of the pageant, scheduled to be held in Nigeria late next month.

The Miss Espana organization said, however, that it believes a boycott would be less effective than having the world's beauty queens go to Nigeria and make a joint statement defending human rights.

The Miss World pageant has come under pressure over the case of Amina Lawal, who was sentenced to death by stoning

. The sentence is scheduled to be carried out in 2004 after she weans a baby born out of wedlock.

Spain joins France, Belgium and Switzerland in boycotting the pageant in Nigeria.