The Nigerian fashion journalist who faces an Islamic death sentence over article about the Miss World contest has fled the country for the United States.
Ms Isioma Daniel's comments in ThisDaynewspaper angered Muslims and sparked violent riots that killed more than 200 people in the West African country.
The deputy governor of Zamfara state in the north of Nigeria had called for her death, saying Islamic shariah law demanded it.
Ms Daniel had defended Miss World against its Muslim detractors and implied that Islam's founding prophet Mohammed would have enjoyed the show - probably even choosing a bride from among the contestants.
Deputy governor Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi said the Koran made it clear that Muslims had a duty to kill Ms Daniel for her blasphemous remarks.
The edict for Muslims to kill her came despite Nigeria's chief Islamic leader has called for forgiveness. The newspaper has accepted her resignation, retracted her comments and apologised several times.
Condemnation of the death sentence was rapid and widespread. Nigeria's federal information minister, Mr Jerry Gana, said the edict was invalid because it violates the country's constitution.
And five media lobby groups wrote an open letter to President Olusegun Obasanjo saying the death sentence violates Ms Daniel's rights and is an "attack on freedom of expression, freedom of opinion and freedom of the press".
But Islam's holy book states "that whoever accuses or insults any prophet of Allah ... should be killed," Zamfara state Information Commissioner Mr Tukur Umar Dangaladima insisted.
"If she is Muslim, she has no option except to die. But if she is a non-Muslim, the only way out for her is to convert to Islam." Ms Daniel's religion is not known.
Zamfara state was the first of 12 states in Nigeria to impose shariah after military rule gave way to elected government in 1999.
Religious clashes since then have killed thousands across the country. The recent violence caused Miss World organisers to abandon plans to hold the contest in Nigeria and evacuate more than 80 beauty queens to London, where the show will go ahead on December 7th.
PA