ABDUL RAHMAN SAFE FOR NOW

By Michelle Malkin

This morning, I linked to press accounts of Afghan Christian Abdul Rahman's release and vanishing.

Truth & Terrorism and Allah Pundit e-mailed this afternoon with an update. Rahman is reportedly safe for now, but the lynch mob is still thirsting. AFP says:

Abdul Rahman, released from a maximum security jail outside Kabul late Monday, was being kept at a secure location for his own protection following calls for his execution, deputy attorney general Mohammad Ishaq Aliko said.

"He is free now but he is being kept in a special place and that is only for his own security," Aliko said. "He is under protection. The United Nations and the (Afghan) human rights commission are both aware and are involved."

Several diplomatic sources said he was being held at the United Nations compound in the capital, but the world body would not confirm this.

An official said authorities were bracing for more protests after about 200 people demonstrated in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif Monday demanding Rahman's execution in accordance with Sharia Islamic law.

No demonstrations were reported Tuesday but Afghans continued to demand that he be tried according to Sharia law, which says he should be sentenced to death unless he reverts to Islam.

"If the government forgives him, the people will not. The people will kill him," said tribal elder Shah Baran in the eastern province of Zabul...

Stay tuned.