Word: abdul
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Facing heavy international pressure, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government brokered the release of Abdul Rahman, who, under Afghanistan's Shari'a law, had faced the death penalty for converting to Christianity. Two days later, Rahman was spirited to Italy, which granted him asylum. On his arrival, he gave a brief TV interview, thanking the Italian government and Pope Benedict XVI for helping save his life and win his release. But alive doesn't mean totally free. Afghan clerics have denounced Italy and continue to call for Rahman's death, so he will stay under tight police protection...
Western leaders breathed a sigh of relief yesterday at the release of Abdul Rahman, a Christian convert who had faced the death penalty under Afghanistan's Islamic law for renouncing his Muslim faith. Rahman, 40, has become the poster boy for the Christian right and for religious freedom. Closer up, however, the picture painted by the local police who arrested him shows a candidate not quite ready for family values. Rather, a portrait emerges of a deadbeat dad with psychological problems who couldn't hold down a job, abused his daughters and parents and didn't pay child support...
...Colonel Mohammed Saber Monseffi, the chief crime officer at the 15th district police station in Kabul, brought Abdul Rahman in for questioning after a domestic dispute turned violent late last month. Says Monseffi, "He told me, 'I'm a Christian,' and I said that is not of any interest to me. I asked him why did you beat your father, why did you beat your daughters?" The fact that Rahman was Christian was secondary to his family's desire to get him out of the house, said Monseffi, who adds that his own wife is a Russian Christian...
...Abdul Rahman's parents did not appear to help his cause. A statement by his mother Ghul Begum reads: "We brought up his children and for eight years he didn't come home. Because he has converted from Islam to another religion we don't want him in our house." His father Abdul Manan's statement says, "[Abdul Rahman] wanted to change the ethics of my children and family. He is not going in the right direction. I have thrown him out of my house." Abdul Rahman's own statement does not dispute his financial straits. "Since I am jobless...
Renouncing one's Muslim faith in Afghanistan is a crime punishable by death. When news trickled out of Kabul late last month that a former aid worker named Abdul Rahman, 41, was on trial for converting to Christianity, the U.S. government responded with dismay--but not much else. The case "is not under the competence of the U.S.," Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said. "If there is to be a trial, we hope that it's going to be transparent." That was the diplomatic equivalent of shrugging and saying, "What more...