Canada concerned over Afghan facing death for being a Christian

Canada has joined the list of countries closely watching a court case in Afghanistan, where under Islamic law a man could be sentenced to death for converting to Christianity.

"Canada will continue to encourage the Afghan government to adhere to its human rights obligations," Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Pamela Greenwell told Reuters Tuesday.

I ask you? Are we sending our soldiers over there, possably to die, to protect a regime that would kill a man for his personal beliefs? I think not...

Abdul Rahman became a Christian 16 years ago while working in Germany, but he was charged with rejecting Islam only in February, when his family denounced him during a custody battle over his two children.

Rahman, 41, is now in jail in Afghanistan and faces the death penalty unless he agrees to convert back to the faith in which he was raised, said the judge at the Shariah court. (Shariah is the legal code of Islam, based on the Qu'ran.)

"We will invite him again [to renounce Christianity] because the religion of Islam is one of tolerance," trial judge Ansarullah Mawlazezadah told the BBC on Sunday. "We will ask him if he has changed his mind. If so, we will forgive him."

Sounds real tolerant to me, become a Christian and they kill you. Mayhaps Ansarullah should give us his definition of tolerance, because it sure as hell isn't the same as mine.

On Tuesday, politicians from Italy and German signalled they are unhappy that a man could be put to death merely for being a Christian.

Germany has about 2,700 soldiers stationed in Afghanistan. Italy has 1,775, compared to Canada's 2,200.

A former president of Italy, Francesco Cossiga, has proposed the country pull its troops out unless Rahman's life is spared.

"It is not acceptable that our soldiers should put themselves at risk or even sacrifice their lives for a fundamentalist, illiberal regime," Cossiga wrote in an open letter to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who faces a re-election battle next month.

Pulling out of Afghanistan is not an option as a withdrawel under any circumstance would be taken as a sign of weakness by Jihadi's the world over. My two cents. If Rahman is killed NATO up's the troop presence and takes direct control of the country until such a time as the Afghan people are brought (ether by themselves or dragged there by us) into the 21st century.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/03/21/afghan-christian060321.html