"Afghan Man Faces Execution After Converting to Christianity":

Pretty appalling. I'm glad that the U.S. government is pressuring the Afghan government to rescind this, and I hope that the behind-the-scenes pressure is more serious than the public pressure; according to the Chicago Tribune, "The Bush administration issued a subdued appeal Tuesday to Afghanistan to permit a Christian convert on trial for his life to practice his faith in the predominantly Muslim country. The State Department, however, did not urge the U.S. ally in the war on terrorism to terminate the trial. Officials said the Bush administration did not want to interfere with Afghanistan's sovereignty." It seems from my LEXIS search that the Voice of America News was the first to break the story, which I'm glad about; let's hope the drumbeat goes on, and influences the Afghan government.

Here, by the way, is an excerpt from the State Department press briefing on the subject; I can understand why the diplomats at State want to be circumspect about their statements, but I'm also pleased that the media is pressing them on it.