First Miss Iraq named in decades

It was smoky, alcohol-free and there was no swimsuit contest, but the party produced the first Miss Iraq in four decades and left everyone feeling a small victory had been won.

"Some people out there think we don't love life," said Humam al-Obeidi, one of the organizers, as the crowd spilled out of the Baghdad hotel ballroom where the pageant was held on Saturday.

The jury chose Shaima Qassem (first from left in picture), a tall, green-eyed 20-year-old from the city of Kirkuk.