AFGHANISTAN. POPE CALLS ON KARZAI TO SPARE AFGHAN CHRISTIAN CONVERT

Pope Benedict XVI asked Afghan President Hamid Karzai to pardon Abdul Rahman, an Afghan man facing execution for converting to Christianity. A statement by press chief Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the pope's secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, "wrote a letter on behalf of the Holy Father Benedict XVI to the President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, concerning the fate of the Christian convert Abdul Rahman".
The Ansa news agency said the letter had invoked human rights enshrined in the preamble to the Afghan constitution.
The letter was signed by Cardinal Sodano in accordance with Vatican practice in diplomatic exchanges with foreign states.