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President Bush upset over Christian Afghans arrest. Please Pray Abdul Rahman converted from Islam to Christianity and may be executed for it.
It was reported by the White House today that President Bush is upset over the case of the Afghan who may be put to death because he is a Christian. He has been a Christian for over 16 years and just moved back to his home land. President Bush is trying to solve this issue through their courts. Police arrested him last month after discovering him in possession of a Bible during questioning over a dispute for custody of his two daughters. Prosecutors have offered to drop the charges if Rahman converts back to Islam, but he has refused. President Bush said: "I'm troubled when I hear -- deeply troubled -- when I hear the fact that a person who has converted away from Islam may be held to account," President Bush says he will be talking to the authorities in Kabul about the case of Abdul Rahman. Accordint to Islamic law he could be executed if he refuses to return to the Islamic faith. "We have got influence in Afghanistan and we are going to use it to remind them that there are universal values," said Mr. Bush. "It is deeply troubling that a country we helped liberate would hold a person to account, because they chose a particular religion over another." President Bush says he expects Afghanistan will honor the universal principle of freedom and believes the problem can be solved by working closely with Afghan officials. Asked about the issue during a question and answer session in the state of West Virginia, Mr. Bush said he shares the concerns that many Americans have about the case. The United Nations has joined the United States, Canada, Germany, and Italy in expressing concern about Rahman. Abdul Rahman, 41, is facing a possible death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity may be mentally unfit to stand trial, a state prosecutor said Wednesday.  Abdul Rahman has been charged with rejecting Islam, a crime under this country's Islamic laws. His trial started last week and he confessed to becoming a Christian 16 years ago. If convicted, he could be executed.But prosecutor Sarinwal Zamari said questions have been raised about his mental fitness. "We think he could be mad. He is not a normal person. He doesn't talk like a normal person," he told The Associated Press. Moayuddin Baluch, a religious adviser to President Hamid Karzai, said Rahman would undergo a psychological examination. "Doctors must examine him," he said. "If he is mentally unfit, definitely Islam has no claim to punish him. He must be forgiven. The case must be dropped." It was not immediately clear when he would be examined or when the trial would resume. Authorities have barred attempts by the AP to see Rahman and he is not believed to have a lawyer. A Western diplomat in Kabul and a human rights advocate - both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter - said the government was desperately searching for a way to drop the case because of the reaction it has caused. The United States, Britain and other countries that have troops in Afghanistan have voiced concern about Rahman's fate. The Bush administration Tuesday issued a subdued appeal to Kabul to let Rahman practice his faith in safety. German Roman Catholic Cardinal Karl Lehmann said the trial sent an "alarming signal" about freedom of worship in Afghanistan. The case is believed to be the first of its kind in Afghanistan and highlights a struggle between religious conservatives and reformists over what shape Islam should take there four years after the ouster of the fundamentalist Taliban regime. Afghanistan's constitution is based on Shariah law, which is interpreted by many Muslims to require that any Muslim who rejects Islam be sentenced to death. The state-sponsored Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission has called for Rahman to be punished, arguing he clearly violated Islamic law. The case has received widespread attention in Afghanistan where many people are demanding Rahman be severely punished. "For 30 years, we have fought religious wars in this country and there is no way we are going to allow an Afghan to insult us by becoming Christian," said Mohammed Jan, 38, who lives opposite Rahman's father, Abdul Manan, in Kabul. "This has brought so much shame." Rahman is believed to have converted from Islam to Christianity while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in the Pakistani city of Peshawar. He then moved to Germany for nine years before returning to Kabul in 2002, after the ouster of the hard-line Taliban regime. |
] and returned the case to prosecutors for further investigation. But he said Rahman would be released in the meantime.