Afghan convert to Christianity requests asylum, UN mission says
An Afghan charged with converting from Islam to Christianity in a court case that threatened to strain the war-torn country’s relations with the international community has asked for asylum in another country, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported today.
An Afghan charged with converting from Islam to Christianity in a court case that threatened to strain the war-torn country’s relations with the international community has asked for asylum in another country, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported today.
“Mr. Abdul Rahman has asked for asylum outside Afghanistan,” a UNAMA spokesman said. “We expect that this will be provided by one of the countries interested in a peaceful solution to this case.”
Last week, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative to Afghanistan Tom Koenigs stressed that freedom of religious worship is a founding principle of the UN, and expressed hope that the situation would be resolved according to that foundation of human rights.