Czech outs our Sabrina_英文原版

her heritage spans the globe. and now australia's multicultural beauty queen sabrina houssami has finished third at the miss world 2006 beauty contest.

the 20-year-old university student from georges hall, who caused a stir in the muslim community when she declared she was happy to wear a bikini for the contest, was one of 104 young women vying for the coveted diamond crown.

for the final night of the competition, held in warsaw, poland, she wore a stunning white floor-length gown trimmed with silver.

an estimated television audience of two billion people from 200 countries used the internet and text messages to vote czech republic student tatana kucharova, 18, the winner.

romania's joana valentina boitor, 17, was runner up.

houssami, the glamourous daughter of a lebanese-muslim father and indian-hindu mother, had ignored criticism from muslim clerics who slammed beauty contests as a "slur on islam'', saying she was happy to wear a swimsuit for the pageant judges because it was for charity.  

houssami said her religion was a private matter and if wearing a bikini helped her to raise money for a good cause it should not be against the rules.

so far, she has raised more than $1.2 million for charity through her pageant work. she hopes to become a television journalist when she graduates, using her profile to "raise awareness of philanthropic ventures.''

the miss world organisers said this year's final offered the largest-ever participation of voters around the world using the internet and text messages.

the london-based miss world pageant is a different competition from the us-run miss universe contest won by australia's jennifer hawkins in 2004.