But it's sure trying...

Muslim clerics call for the death penalty for the exercise of free will and personal beliefs

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12022144/

AP, Updated: 5:42 p.m. ET March 27, 2006
KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan man who faced the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity has appealed for asylum in another country, the United Nations said Monday after hundreds of Muslims marched against a court’s decision to dismiss his case.

Afghan officials did not say whether Abdul Rahman had been released after the case against him was dismissed Sunday, but the U.N. statement came amid unconfirmed reports that he was being freed.

“We do understand that he will be released,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington. “We’re pleased by that.”

Earlier Monday, hundreds of clerics, students and others chanting “Death to Christians!” marched through the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif to protest the court’s decision to toss out the case.

Several Muslim clerics have threatened to incite Afghans to kill Rahman if he is freed, saying that he is clearly guilty of apostasy and deserves to die.

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Local Islamic leaders insist that a man separate from his wife because he spoke in his sleep

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12038469/

Reuters, Updated: 2:34 p.m. ET March 27, 2006
NEW DELHI - A Muslim couple in India has been told by local Islamic leaders to separate after the husband “divorced” his wife in his sleep, the Press Trust of India reported.

Sohela Ansari told friends that her husband, Aftab, had uttered the word “talaq,” or divorce, three times in his sleep, according to the report published in newspapers on Monday.

When local Islamic leaders heard of the sleep talking, they said Aftab’s words constituted a divorce under an Islamic procedure known as “triple talaq.” The couple, married for 11 years with three children, were told they had to split.

The religious leaders ruled that if the couple wanted to remarry they would have to wait at least 100 days. Sohela would also have to spend a night with another man and be divorced by him in turn.

The couple, who live in the eastern state of West Bengal, have refused to obey the order and the issue has been referred to a local family counseling center.