Special to WorldTribune.com

Newly-crowned Miss Iraq Shayma Qassim received a phone call on Dec. 22 warning that she must join Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) or she will be kidnapped.

Qassim, 20, said she was distressed over the call but was determined to “continue forward despite any obstacles,” according to a report published by the organizers of the Miss Iraq competition.

Related: First Miss Iraq in more than four decades crowned under tight security in Baghdad, Dec. 20

ISIL, which controls nearly a third of Iraq, mandates that women must be fully covered or face harsh punishment, including execution.

The 20-year-old from Kirkuk in northern Iraq was crowned the winner on Dec. 19 of the country’s first beauty pageant to be held in 40 years. She will represent Iraq in the Miss Universe pageant in Thailand in March 2016.

In conservative Iraq, the public display of women’s bodies is frowned upon, so there was no swimsuit portion in the Miss Iraq pageant. The only portion of the pageant opened to the media featured the eight finalists in evening gowns. Organizers said they did ban Islamic headscarves in keeping with the protocol of Western pageants.

At least two contestants quit the pageant after receiving death threats.

  New Miss Iraq gets phone threat: Join ISIL or be kidnapped, Shayma Qassim, WorldTribune.com