Senior Muslim clerics insisted yesterday that Abdul Rahman be put to death. They warned that if the government frees him in response to Western pressure they will incite the people of Afghanistan to "pull him into pieces."

I'm sure we can rest assured that any reason he would be freed would just be 'Western pressure.' I don't even know why they are bothering with the pretense of a trial for this persecuted Christian man!

In a somewhat unorthodox move, Secretary of State Rice called Hamid Karzai asking for a "favorable resolution" to the former medical aid worker. As we all know, the penalty for converting away from Islam is death. So much for the religion of peace. (Again.)

"Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die," said cleric Abdul Raoulf, who is considered moderate and was even jailed three times by the Taliban for not being hard-line enough.

First of all, if this is moderate, I'd hate to see 'extreme.' Secondly, I wasn't aware that man is even capable of humiliating God. It has always been my understanding that when man blasphemes, he only humiliates himself.

As it stands, Rahman's future is up in the air. Muslim clerics want him dead, but Hamid Karzai has a "firm willingness" to stand by human rights requirements. The inside word is that the Afghan government is seeking to find Raoulf "mentally ill," thus avoiding the death penalty and satisfying human rights and pacifying the Islamic clerics at the same time.

No one who has met Rahman believes that he is insane.

"He is not crazy. He went in front of the media and confessed to being a Christian," said Hamidullah, chief cleric at Haji Yacob Mosque.

Public opinion is that Rahman should not be executed, but perhaps exiled. The bloodthirsty clerics of the Religion of Peace disagree.

"If he is allowed to live in the West, then others will claim to be Christian so they can too," Said Mirhossain, the top cleric at Hossainia Mosque said. "We must set an example. ... He must be hanged."

The clerics said they were angry with the United States and other countries for pushing for Rahman's freedom.

"We are a small country and we welcome the help the outside world is giving us. But please don't interfere in this issue," Nasri said. "We are Muslims and these are our beliefs. This is much more important to us than all the aid the world has given us."

We are Muslims and these are our beliefs...