The story remains pretty much the same today. Positions are being taken and entrenchments are no doubt being dug. The passage of time, brief though it’s been, has not helped Rahman’s cause in Afghanistan. From the BBC in Kabul: Mood hardens against Afghan convert.

“The Prophet Muhammad has said several times that those who convert from Islam should be killed if they refuse to come back,” says Ansarullah Mawlafizada, the trial judge.

“Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance, kindness and integrity. That is why we have told him if he regrets what he did, than we will forgive him,” he told the BBC News website.

That judge is missing a career in comedy writing, if you ask me. Though the implications of Abdul Rahman’s case are anything but amusing.

The Afghan judiciary is dominated by religious conservatives, many of them with strong religious ties or backgrounds.

Many feel it will be difficult for the president and the government to confront the judiciary.

But the bigger problem confronting the president is that an overwhelming number of ordinary Afghans appear to believe Mr Rahman has erred and deserves to be executed.

At Friday prayers in mosques across the Afghan capital, the case of Abdul Rahman and the consequent international outcry is the hot topic of discussion and the centrepiece of sermons.

“We will not let anyone interfere with our religious practices,” declared cleric Inayatullah at Kabul’s Pulakasthy mosque, one of the city’s largest.

“What Rahman has done is wrong and he must be punished.”

….

“What is wrong with Islam that he should want to convert?” asks an agitated Abdul Zahid Payman.

“The courts should punish him and he should be put to death.”

Few were willing to listen to the growing condemnation in the West.

“According to Islamic law he should be sentenced to death because God has clearly stated that Christianity is forbidden in our land,” says Mohammed Qadir, another worshipper.

US President George Bush says he is “deeply troubled” by the case.

That cuts no ice with Mr Qadir.

“Who is America to tell us what to do? If Karzai listens to them there will jihad (holy war).”

It’s not hard to understand why Karzai is reaching for the insanity clause to try and wriggle out of this with the least damage to all concerned. Not that that — even if it successfully allays the passions — will do anything but postpone the issue. And perhaps not postpone it for very long, either.

Addendum 2:57 p.m.: So, Agence France-Press says that Rahman is “likely to be released soon,” quoting a “senior government official” who predicts a top-level meeting on Saturday. To save his life from the mob, he would need to be spirited away somewhere instantly, of-course. I’m not surprised the source prefers to remain nameless.

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