Re: Afghan Christian convert could face death
Afghan Christian convert may be freed
Friday, March 24, 2006; Posted: 3:39 p.m. EST (20:39 GMT)
Afghanistan
(CNN) -- An Afghan man possibly facing execution for converting from Islam to Christianity is expected "to be released in the coming days," a source with detailed knowledge of the case said Friday.
Word of Abdul Rahman's release comes after days of international pressure and the day before the Afghan Cabinet was scheduled to discuss the case of the 41-year-old father of two. On Thursday, top Afghan clerics urged Muslims to kill Rahman if the government freed him.
Speaking Friday to reporters in Mexico, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the U.S. government is working with Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government to free Rahman.
Rahman is charged with rejecting Islam by converting to Christianity, an offense that can be punishable by death under the Afghan constitution, which is based in sharia, or Islamic law. Rahman reportedly converted 16 years ago while he was a medical aid worker for an international nongovernmental organization.
But the case has illustrated a split in Afghanistan over the interpretation of the constitution, which calls for religious freedom while stating that Muslims who reject Islam can be executed.
Even moderate Muslims are incensed by Rahman's conversion, as top clerics on Thursday called for his execution.
"Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die," cleric Abdul Raoulf told The Associated Press. Raoulf has long been considered a moderate and was often at odds with the Taliban, which jailed him three times before the hard-line group's ouster in 2001. (Read about clerics joining Raoulf in calling for Rahman's death)