THE BEAUTY queens are arriving in Nigeria by the planeload. Contestants from Albania to Zimbabwe have their eye on a jeweled tiara and the title of "most beautiful woman in the world."

Many in Africa's most populous nation have been most solicitous of the Miss World wannabes. The foreign minister encouraged each contestant to "relax and enjoy yourself."

Of course, that was after he assured them that they were safe in a country where Islamic courts have sentenced four people to death by stoning for having sex outside of marriage.

One of them, Amina Lawal, is alive until she is able to wean the daughter whose birth occasioned her arrest. After that, according to her sentence, the 31-year-old mother of three will be buried up to her neck and stoned about the head until she dies.

This brutal punishment doesn't seem to faze pageant organizers or most of the beauty queens. Only six contestants so far -- Misses Costa Rica, Denmark, Switzerland, South Africa, Mauritius and Panama -- are boycotting the pageant. Seems to us they've already won this contest.

The other participants are arriving on schedule for the Dec. 7 finale.

While the shapely contestants are parading around in clingy bathing suits and off-the-shoulder evening gowns, Ms. Lawal is wondering whether she can believe government pronouncements that no Nigerian will be stoned. Until when? Until Miss World is crowned, the television cameras stop rolling, and pageant organizers pack up and leave?

Ms. Lawal's case brought international attention to the death-by-stoning sentences and the Nigerian government's lax response. She is awaiting word on the second appeal of her sentence. Fear of retribution forced her into hiding several months ago; however, she recently came forward in support of the pageant, bravely stating, "No man can do me harm without God's permission."

Pageant organizers have been neither so brave nor so eloquent. Miss World president Julia Morley has thanked her hosts for their hospitality, reportedly saying, "We're so happy to be here. We are here to put Nigeria on the map of international beauty." Ms. Morley also noted that the government's pledge to uphold the rights of Ms. Lawal and others was cause to celebrate. Pulling the pageant from the West African nation would have been a better reason to celebrate.

This is an organization with an incredible reach -- by its count, 2 billion television viewers worldwide. It professes to reflect "the attributes of today's woman" and espouses the motto, "Beauty with a Purpose," a reference to the $10 million raised for children's charities.

Most pageant contestants obviously saw no reason to withdraw. At least 92 are expected in the Nigerian capital of Abuja. The U.S. representative is already there. Rebekah Revels should thank her lucky stars she hails from North Carolina and not Nigeria. When an ex-boyfriend offered up topless photographs of Ms. Revels, the former Miss North Carolina had to give up her state title and crown, but not the opportunity to compete in the Miss World pageant.

She and the other beauty queens should take care, however. Sadiu Aliu, an official of the Nigerian Muslim fundamentalist group Mahiba, reportedly has concocted his own remedy for what he calls a display of immorality: a series of "black prayers" to inflict "plagues of curses and bad luck" on pageant officials and participants.