Dismissing this particular case on a technicality isn’t nearly good enough for the other prisoners of conscience in Muslim lands, but it is difficult to envision the Afghans expunging Sharia from their Constitution at this stage of the game. From AP:
KABUL, Afghanistan – An Afghan court on Sunday dismissed a case against a man who converted from Islam to Christianity because of a lack of evidence and he will be released soon, officials said.
The announcement came as U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai faced mounting foreign pressure to free Abdul Rahman, a move that risked angering Muslim clerics here who have called for him to be killed.
An official closely involved with the case told The Associated Press that it had been returned to the prosecutors for more investigation, but that in the meantime, Rahman would be released…
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she could not confirm that an Afghan court had dismissed the case and stressed the U.S. needs to respect the sovereignty of Afghanistan, which she called a “young democracy.”
We have our history of conflicts that had to be worked out after a new constitution. And so the Afghans are working on it. But America has stood solidly for religious freedom as a bedrock, the bedrock, of democracy, and we’ll see.” Rice said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Asked if American Christian missionaries should be encouraged to go to Afghanistan, Rice said: “I think that Afghans are pleased to get the help that they can get” but added “we need to be respectful of Afghan sovereignty.”…