An Afghan man threatened with death for converting to Christianity will probably not be executed, Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini has said after the case sparked protests among Kabul’s Western allies.

Fini, whose country was one of four NATO members with troops in Afghanistan to speak out about the case, told Italian television he had indications the Islamic punishment for apostasy would not be imposed on Abdul Rahman.

“From what I’ve been told, and I have no reason to doubt it, the death sentence will not be carried out,” said Fini, whose ministry had summoned the Afghan ambassador in Rome on Tuesday to discuss the case. He gave no other details.

The ruling sparked a series of protests in Western states more sensitive to the role of religion in international affairs after the Prophet Mohammad caricatures in a Danish newspaper triggered violent protests and demands for an apology in the Muslim world.

The United States, which counts Afghan President Hamid Karzai as a main ally, raised it with visiting Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, urging Kabul to uphold the constitutional right of Afghan citizens to choose their faith.

Italy, Germany and Canada all expressed their concern. Germany’s top Catholic prelate, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, did the same and demanded that Christians enjoy the same religious freedom in Islamic countries as Muslims did in the West.

Lehmann’s call touched a sore point in Christian-Muslim relations highlighted by the cartoon controversy. The growing number of Muslim immigrants in Europe and North America have far more religious freedom than Christians do in some Muslim states.

After some Muslims demanded that Western countries censor cartoons that offend Islamic sensitivities, the Vatican and other Christian authorities stepped up calls for “reciprocity”, or equal freedom for religions everywhere.

<B>“Hundreds of messages”</B>

An Afghan judge said on Sunday Abdur Rahman had been jailed for converting from Islam to Christianity and could face the death penalty if he refused to become a Muslim again. Sharia, or Islamic law, stipulates death for apostasy.

“We hope that the Afghan constitution is going to be upheld and in our view, if it’s upheld, then of course he’ll be found to be innocent,” said Nicholas Burns, the State Department’s third-ranked diplomat, at a news conference with Abdullah.

Abdullah said Kabul’s US embassy had received “hundreds of messages” from Americans and added: “I know that it is a very sensitive issue. I hope that through our constitutional process, there will be a satisfactory result.”

The protests present a dilemma for Karzai, who needs foreign troops to defend against al Qaeda and Taliban remnants.

Some 23,000 US troops are in the country targeting Taliban and al Qaeda forces. Germany has 2,700 soldiers in Afghanistan, Canada has 2,300 and Italy has 1,775.

Former Italian President Francesco Cossiga has called for a withdrawal of Italian troops from Afghanistan if Afghanistan could not assure Rahman’s safety.

“It is not acceptable that our soldiers should put themselves at risk or even sacrifice their lives for a fundamentalist, illiberal regime,” Cossiga said.

Afghanistan is a conservative Islamic country and 99 per cent of its more than 25 million people are Muslim. A court sentenced two Afghan journalists to death for blasphemy three years ago but they escaped and sought asylum abroad.

<B>Tom HENEGHAN</B> <I>Religion Editor</I>

MENTALLY UNFIT FOR TRIAL

<B>Rahman accused of rejecting Islamic laws</B>

Abdul Rahman, facing a possible death may be mentally unfit to stand trial, a state prosecutor said yesterday.

Abdul Rahman, 41, has been charged with rejecting Islam, a crime under this country’s Islamic laws. His trial started last week and he confessed to becoming a Christian 16 years ago. If convicted, he could be executed. But prosecutor Sarinwal Zamari said questions have been raised about his 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 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.”

It was not immediately clear when he would be examined or when the trial would resume. Authorities have barred attempts by the AP to see Rahman and he is not believed to have a lawyer.

A Western diplomat in Kabul and a human rights advocate — both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter — said the government was desperately searching for a way to drop the case because of the reaction it has caused. The United States, Britain and other countries that have troops in Afghanistan have voiced concern about Rahman’s fate. The Bush administration issued a subdued appeal to Kabul to let Rahman practice his faith in safety. German Roman Catholic Cardinal Karl Lehmann 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 Shariah law, which is interpreted by many Muslims to require that any Muslim who rejects Islam be sentenced to death. The state-sponsored Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission has called for Rahman to be punished, arguing he clearly violated Islamic law.

The case has received widespread attention in Afghanistan where many people are demanding Rahman 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 Rahman’s father, Abdul Manan, in Kabul. “This has brought so much shame.” Rahman is believed to have converted from Islam to Christianity while working as 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 hard-line Taliban regime. Police arrested him last month after discovering him in possession of a Bible during questioning over a dispute for custody of his two daughters. Prosecutors have offered to drop the charges if Rahman converts back to Islam.