TOKYO - MISS Universe, Riyo Mori of Japan, has agreed to stop wearing fur after a protest campaign by animal-rights activists, an official with the beauty pageant said on Tuesday.

'She declined to wear a fur coat for an event in China next Friday,' said Ines Ligron, national director in Japan for the Miss Universe Organization.

'She refused even though she was kind of pressured to wear fur.' People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) last week encouraged its members to write Ms Mori and demand that she stop wearing fur.

Ms Ligron, a French woman who helps train Japanese contestants, said that she had encouragd Mori to wear a fur coat in a preliminary contest for Miss Universe.

'It was my decision that she wear the fur coat that time,' Ms Ligron said.

'It is the policy of the Miss Universe Organization not to have the title-holders wear fur.'

20-year-old Mori has said she wants to use her tenure as Miss Universe to fight HIV and AIDS and that she hopes one day to perform on Broadway.

In its letter to Ms Mori demanding she renounce fur, PETA had asked Miss Universe to 'prove that your beauty is more than skin deep.'

The US-based group is famous for its publicity stunts in campaigning for animal rights. It has frequently targeted celebrities and companies that promote fur. -- AFP