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8B RELIGIONAE^e Charlotte $0{lt Thursday, March 30, 2006 Christian convert released TBE ASSOCIATED PRESS KABUL, Afghanistan—An Afghan man who had faced the de ath penalty for convert ing from Islam to Christiani ty has been released from prison after the case was dropped, the justice minister said Tuesday The annoxmcement came after the United Nations said Abdul Rahman has appealed for asylum outside Afghanistan and that the world body was working to find a country willing to take him. Justice Minister Mohammed Sarwar Danish told The Associated Press that the 41-year-old was released from the hi^-secu- rity Policharki prison on the outskirts of Kabul late Mon day ‘"We released him last night because the prosecutors told us to,” he said- “His family was there when he was freed, but I don’t know where he was taken.” Deputy Attorney General Mohammed Eshak Aloko told the AP that prosecutors had issued a letter calling for Rahman’s release because “he was mentally unfit to stand trial.” He also said he did not know where he was being held. He said Rahman may be sent overseas for medical treatment- Hours earlier, himdreds of clerics, students and olhers chanting “Death to Chris tians!” marched through the northern Afghan Mazar-i- Sharif to protest the court’s decision Sunday to dismiss • the case. “Abdul Rahman must be killed- Islam demands it,” said senior Cleric Faiez Mohammed, from the nearby northern city of Kunduz. “The Christian foreigners occupying Afghanistan are attacking our rehgion.” Several Muslim clerics have threatened to incite Afghans to kill Rahman if he is fi-eed, saying that he is clearly guilty of apostasy and deserves to die. Rahman, 41, was arrested last month after police discov ered him with a Bible. He was put on trial last week for converting 16 years ago while he was a medical aid worker for an international Christ ian group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan. He had faced the death penalty under Afghanistan’s Islamic laws. The case set off an outcry in the United States and other nations that helped oust the hard-line Taliban regime in late 2001 and provided aid and military support for Afghan President Hamid Information that is always online, 24 hours a day www.thecharlottepost.com Cjiarlotte $o«t FEEDING THE HOMELESS- GREATER SALEM CHLRC Il thmic h.i\i w^'-" Pastor Karen Woods . PRfwERNew.Creation Christian Chur^, THAT HITS THE nc. ^ THE MARK JEREMIAH 33:3 SERVICES BEGIN AT 7:00PM NIGHTLY Dr. Ramona Joseph Sweet Holy Spirit Church Chicago, IL Bishop A.L Jinwright | Elder Harriet Porter-Jinwright 5318 Salem Church Road j Charlotte, NC 28216 For more info call 704.399.5448 or visit www.greatersalem.org Jpilr'r' PHOTO/WADE NASH Former U.S. envoy criticizes panel mE ASSOCIATED PRESS ATHENS, Greece-A U.S. commission that monitors international religious free dom risks weakening Ameri can influence by concentrat ing on sharply worded decla rations and calls for sanctions rather than encouraging step- by-step negotiations, the panel’s former top diplomat said Tuesday “The commission sees itself set up to be a watchdog and the only way you can be a watchdog is to bark really loud,” said Robert Sriple, who served as the first ambas sador-at-large for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. “And in barking really loud, it seems to find its ultimate expression in punishments- ... Punishment has never changed behavior.” Seiple’s comments surest growing questions in Wash ington about “good cop, bad cop” signals between the com mission’s often tox^ outlook and the less confixintational stjde of the State Department, which also has an office that evaluates religious persecu tion and other limits on wor ship around the world. “We have one group scream ing for action and punishment and another group working quietly behind the sc^es.... It can be very confusing,” Seiple told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Washington. The commission is finishir^ work on its latest annual report-expected in early May- at a time when attention to religious openness has taken on global proportions with the appeals for Abdul Rahman, an Afghan convert to Christiani ty who faced a possible death sentence under Afghanistan’s Islamic codes. Rahman was released fiom prison on Mon day and appealed for asydum abroad. In past years, the commis-. sion has urged Washington! officials to use diplomatic and. economic leverage on allies such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan for religious intoler ance against non-Muslims. But such proposals often clashed with U.S. foreign poli cies in the region. The commission’s 2005 report recommended 11 nations be considered “coim- tries of particular concern” and in line for possible sanc tions and other pressure. The list induded U.S. foes Iran and North Korea, but also some critical partners such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, China and Uzbekistan. “My feding ... was that any time we put a coxmtry on the dedicated list with sanctions to follow, we had danonstrat- ed failure of diplomacy” said Seiple, who now heads the Institute for Global Engage ment, a Washington-based group that promotes religious tolerance and dialogue. ‘Tt is a tool, but it is a very blunt instrument.” The commission was formed in 1998 after lawmakers and others sought a stronger voice finm Washington on issues of religious openness and expression. Sdple, a former head of the Christian aid group World \Tsion, was appointed ambassador and left the post in 2000- Current commission mem bers include Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s ethics and religious liberty commis sion; Denver’s Roman CathdLLc Archbishop Charles Chaput and Khaled Abou El Fadl, an authority on Islamic law at the University of Cali fornia, Los Angeles. o 1 . . j ■M4 NafEllis Blsiia/iJosefs i^lkrr Dr /dmUttfy Daittieh 'aa Apvstk Otu Lotiett Bish/p PhslUp Dans Bishi>p Ralph Dcnnu /ipvalt Jemi Tnsvk Dr. Early Re^is^ation is $39 per person. The deadline for Ea^ Regisiration is April 19.2006. Register online at www.pa3torsconsortium.net or cali 704.393.9^2 for more information. When using Black-targeted Newspapers, ich the numlfer one spender in marketers reacli the ipc household—Women; Women with Children at home. The opportunity for long term growth and branding of goods & services. 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