Afghan Christian Convert Arrives in Italy

CBC News
Mar. 29, 2006

A man who faced death in Afghanistan for converting to Christianity has arrived in Italy, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Wednesday.

Abdul Rahman, 41, will be kept in a secure and secret location, Stephen Weeke, NBC bureau chief in Rome, told CBC Newsworld.

The Italian government granted Rahman asylum after he was freed from jail in Kabul on Monday. The United Nations had been trying to find him a safe place to go because Afghan religious leaders were calling for his death.

Rahman was put on trial last week for converting from Islam to Christianity. He was released after a court dropped charges of apostasy against him.

Under Afghan law, Rahman could have been executed if found guilty of rejecting Islam.

But even after his release, clerics were threatening him and parliamentarians tried to keep him from seeking asylum.

Rahman had not been seen since Monday, when he was released from custody. Italy offered him asylum and Italian officials confirmed that Rahman was in the country.

The case brought intense international pressure on President Hamid Karzai – including an appeal from the Pope – to have the charges dropped. They were officially withdrawn for lack of evidence and suspected mental illness.

Rahman converted to Christianity 16 years ago while working in Pakistan for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees.

Earlier Wednesday, Afghanistan's parliament had rejected the offer from Italy to take Rahman, and issued a written demand that he not be allowed to emigrate.

"We sent a letter and called the Interior Ministry and demanded they not allow Abdul Rahman to leave the country," parliamentary speaker Yunus Qanooni told reporters.