[DIV id=headline] [H2]Afghan convert to Christianity may be unfit for trial, officials say[/H2]
[DIV id=author] [P class=byline]DANIEL COONEY
[P class=source]Associated Press and Canadian Press
[UL class=columnistInfo][/UL]
[DIV id=article style="FONT-SIZE: 100%"] [!-- dateline --]Kabul [!-- /dateline --]— An Afghan man 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, 41, has been charged with rejecting Islam, a crime under Afghanistan's Islamic laws. His trial started last week and he confessed to becoming a Christian 16 years ago. If convicted, he could be executed.
Countries that have troops in Afghanistan have voiced concern about Mr. Rahman's fate.
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Prosecutor Sarinwal Zamari said questions have been raised about Mr. Rahman's 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 Mr. 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."
A western diplomat in Kabul and a human-rights advocate – both of whom insisted on anonymity – said the government was desperately searching for a way to drop the case because of the reaction it has caused.
Franklin Pyles, president of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada, said his organization is appalled that Mr. Rahman's life is at risk for converting to Christianity.
"If we are not going to fight for all freedoms, then what are we doing (in Afghanistan)?"
The United Church of Canada suggested in a letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay that the government use its position in Afghanistan – 2,200 troops are in the country's south as part of a Canadian-led multinational brigade – to promote human rights.
These rights include "the rights of Afghans to choose and change religion without fear of losing their lives," the letter says.
But both Mr. MacKay and Prime Minister Stephen Harper refused to comment on Mr. Rahman's trial.
Government officials said the case if "of concern," but that additional facts were needed before deciding on a Canadian response.
The U.S. Bush administration issued a subdued appeal to Kabul on Tuesday to let Mr. Rahman practise his faith in safety.
Karl Cardinal Lehmann of Germany 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 Sharia (Islamic law), which is interpreted by many to require that any Muslim who rejects Islam be sentenced to death. The state-sponsored Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission has called for Mr. Rahman to be punished, arguing that he clearly violated Islamic law.
The case has received widespread attention in Afghanistan where many people are demanding that he 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 Mr. Rahman's father, Abdul Manan, in Kabul. "This has brought so much shame."
Mr. Rahman is believed to have converted to Christianity while 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 hardline Taliban regime.
Police arrested him last month after discovering him with a Bible during questioning over a dispute for custody of his two daughters. Prosecutors have offered to drop the charges if Mr. Rahman converts back to Islam, but he has refused