VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has asked Afghan President Hamid Karzai to pardon an Afghan man facing execution for converting to Christianity, the Italian news agency Ansa said Saturday, quoting "informed sources."
Ansa said the pope had sent Karzai a letter via his state secretary Cardinal Angelo Sodano stressing the guarantee of human rights enshrined in the preamble to the Afghan constitution.
Karzai is under extreme pressure from Western governments over the case of Abdul Rahman, 41, who faces the death penalty under Islamic Sharia law for apostasy.
03/25/2006 14:43 GMT