Under Protection

UPDATE:  Welcome Michelle Malkin and Anglican Elves readers!

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I just saw the following AFP report (not yet linkable):

Freed Afghan Christian under protection amid safety fears 

28 March 2006

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006 All reproduction and presentation rights reserved.

KABUL, March 28, 2006 (AFP) - 

An Afghan facing the death penalty for converting to Christianity has been freed from prison and was under protection Tuesday amid fears for his safety, as Italy moved towards offering him asylum.

Abdul Rahman, released from a maximum security jail outside Kabul late Monday, was being kept at a secure location for his own protection following calls for his execution, deputy attorney general Mohammad Ishaq Aliko said.

"He is free now but he is being kept in a special place and that is only for his own security," Aliko said. "He is under protection. The United Nations and the (Afghan) human rights commission are both aware and are involved."

Several diplomatic sources said he was being held at the United Nations compound in the capital, but the world body would not confirm this.

An official said authorities were bracing for more protests after about 200 people demonstrated in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif Monday demanding Rahman's execution in accordance with Sharia Islamic law.

No demonstrations were reported Tuesday but Afghans continued to demand that he be tried according to Sharia law, which says he should be sentenced to death unless he reverts to Islam.

"If the government forgives him, the people will not. The people will kill him," said tribal elder Shah Baran in the eastern province of Zabul.

Rahman, 41, was arrested this month after it emerged during a family dispute which went to police that he was a Christian. He converted 16 years ago in Pakistan and spent many years in Germany before returning to Afghanistan around 2002.

His case prompted an international outcry, with Afghanistan's Western allies putting unprecedented pressure on the new democratic government to honour freedom of religion.

The UN said late Monday that Rahman had asked for asylum outside Afghanistan. "We expect that this will be provided by one of the countries interested in a peaceful solution to this case," said spokesman Adrian Edwards.

The Italian foreign ministry said Italy was ready to admit Rahman. An embassy spokesman said a final decision on whether to offer asylum would be taken Wednesday.

A Western diplomat said the sensitivity of the case was making countries think twice about accepting Rahman. 

"The public unhappiness seems to be very strong and any country that decides to take him in risks becoming a target of demonstrations, which no one wants," the diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

Western embassies and troops in Afghanistan were the focus of days of demonstrations last month against European cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, in which 11 people were killed.

The United States, which is the main donor to destitute Afghanistan and has led the protests against Rahman's possible execution, said it "would support efforts to find him a safe haven."

"We are working with the appropriate authorities to ensure his well-being," US embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said. 

Justice Minister Sarwar Danish said Rahman was released mainly because there were problems with the case presented against him in court and doubts over his mental capacity to stand trial.

Officials said Rahman underwent tests Monday to assess his capacity to face trial after his relatives said he was "mad". He had admitted to hearing voices in his head, they said.

The courts were still awaiting the test results, Aliko said, adding the case could be reopened if Rahman was found to be mentally fit to stand trial.

The government fears the case could cause a rift with the United States and other Western nations that have been here since helping to topple the hardline Islamic Taliban government in late 2001.

The countries provide vital support in reconstruction after nearly three decades of war, and in fighting a Taliban insurgency. 

Michelle Malkin and The Anchoress are both covering the drama, and were seeing more ominous signs in initial reports of his "disappearance" after being released.   UN members -- specifically Italy -- have been working away from the public eye on saving him (and saving face for the Afghan government).  He's still not yet out of danger, but if this report is true, he may be much safer than this morning's ominous report implied.

Friday is going to be the real test of how blood thirsty and vindictive the Afghan (and other Muslim populations) are going to behave.  If there's official statements of incitement from Sheik Qaradawi or other prominent muslim scholars then a new round of "cartoon jihad" violence may ensue. 

Comments

[Brian]

Abdul may be safe, but what about the world?

Looks like Abdul Rahman may be safe after all, praise God! Unfortunately, I don’t think things are over for him and certainly not yet for other non-Muslims in Afghanistan. Something is clearly wrong in a society in which this type of hatred is so widespread and supported (or at a minimum, not opposed) by its government.

Many more thoughts on this with a link back to this post here: http://thinkingonthemargin.blogspot.com/2006/03/abdul-is-safe-but-what-about-world.html