[ppi] [ppiindia] Italy Grants Asylum to Afghan Christian Convert

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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/30/international/asia/30afghan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin


Italy Grants Asylum to Afghan Christian Convert 
By IAN FISHER and ELISABETTA POVOLEDO

Published: March 30, 2006
ROME, March 29 - A man who faced the death penalty in Afghanistan for 
converting to Christianity was secretly flown to Italy, where he was granted 
asylum under round-the-clock protection by the government, the Italian prime 
minister said Wednesday evening. 

"He's already in Italy," Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told reporters. 

Mr. Berlusconi was vague about when the convert, Abdul Rahman, 41, had arrived 
here, saying he believed that it happened "overnight." The Italian news service 
ANSA reported that he landed in Rome on Tuesday night, accompanied by Italian 
secret service agents.

His arrival culminated several days of strong pressure on the 
American-supported government in Afghanistan, where Mr. Rahman had been jailed 
for weeks for his conversion. Many in Afghanistan called for his death, while 
Western nations demanded his release. 

The differing reactions here and in Afghanistan to Mr. Rahman's release and his 
arrival in Italy seemed to underscore the continuing tension between the West 
and the Islamic world on issues like freedom of religion, freedom of expression 
and democracy. 

"I say that we are very glad to be able to welcome someone who has been so 
courageous," Mr. Berlusconi told reporters here earlier in the day, before 
making Mr. Rahman's arrival public. 

Later he said Mr. Rahman had "asked for asylum and it has been granted," after 
his cabinet took the unusual step of immediately approving it. 

But in deeply conservative and religious Afghanistan, politicians were outraged 
on Wednesday amid confusion about Mr. Rahman's whereabouts and fears that he 
might be taken from Afghanistan. Clerics called for him to be tried under 
Islamic law, which under conservative interpretations applies execution as a 
punishment for apostasy, and they led hundreds of people in demonstrations that 
also protested Western interference.

"We must call on the authorities in charge right now to stop him from going 
out," Muhammad Dawood Zarif, an Afghan legislator and businessman, said in 
Kabul before Mr. Berlusconi's announcement. 

Abdul Rab Rasool Sayaf, a conservative legislator, accused outside nations of 
plotting against Islam and Afghanistan. 

"This is a net of conspiracies," he said. "I am sure there are people behind 
this who want to create problems between Afghanistan and the West from which 
they themselves would get their benefit." 

Accordingly, Mr. Rahman's departure created the prospect of increased pressure 
on Mr. Karzai domestically even as it eased pressure from Western nations, 
including the United States, which holds out Mr. Karzai as the model of a 
moderate and modern Muslim leader. 

Mr. Rahman, said to have converted to Christianity after working for an 
international Christian aid group, was jailed in Afghanistan after being 
accused of apostasy for abandoning Islam, although he was never formally 
charged. He was released to his family on Monday night, said the justice 
minister, Sarwar Danish.

The Bush administration pressed Mr. Karzai to resolve the case, but he 
resisted, citing separation of executive and judicial powers. Germany, Italy 
and Canada, which have troops serving in Afghanistan, and other countries 
voiced their concerns to Mr. Karzai's government.

On Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI, long outspoken about religious freedom for 
Christians in predominantly Muslim countries, sent a letter asking Mr. Karzai 
to pardon Mr. Rahman. The next day, the pope spoke at St. Peter's Square about 
his worries about "communities who live in countries where there is a lack of 
religious freedom, or where despite claims on paper they in truth are subjected 
to many restrictions."

The choice of Italy as a place of refuge for Mr. Rahman seemed to be a result 
of a combination of factors, including Italy's ties to the Vatican and to 
Afghanistan, along with close national elections here in which the Catholic 
vote is substantial. 

Sultan Munadi contributed reporting from Kabul for this article.


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