|TOP|The Moderator of the Church of Scotland has appealed to the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, to keep up pressure on the Afghan authorities to prevent the execution of a man currently under trial in Afghanistan for converting from Islam to Christianity.

The trial of 41-year-old Abdul Rahman has caused international outcry, particularly from the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany and Italy. If Rahman is found guilty of his conversion to Christianity, illegal under Afghanistan’s Sharia-based law, then he could face execution.

Kirk Moderator, the Rt Rev David Lacy urged the Foreign Secretary in a letter this week to keep up pressure on Afghanistan.

“I am very distressed to read press reports regarding Abdul Rahman, an Afghan citizen living in Kabul, who is to be executed under Muslim Shari’a law for converting to Christianity,” he said. “I urge you to continue to make vigorous protest to the Afghan authorities.”

|AD|Rev. Lacy continued: “Members of our Armed Forces are in Afghanistan having assisted the Afghan people there to free themselves from a barbaric, repressive regime. Are they now to defend, at risk of their lives, a system which may execute people for becoming Christians?

“I have the honour of speaking for the Church of Scotland: we wish to defend and protect our brothers and sisters all over the world. I know what my British Muslim friends think: they believe, like us, that all should be free to practise their chosen faith, or none. This is not about ‘Christian versus Muslim’. It is about freedom versus repression.”

According to the AFP, a top official in Afghanistan said the country’s president, Hamid Karzai, has personally intervened in the case in order to bring about a peaceful solution.

“The president is personally working to resolve it peacefully. There is a way out of it," he said. “I believe it’ll take one or two days."

There are also reports of another senior official who said Friday that a top-level meeting would be held Saturday to discuss the possible release of Rahman, although the Supreme Court judge in charge of the case, Ansarullah Mawlawizada, has also stated it will not be influenced by international pressure.

U.S. President George W. Bush said on Wednesday he was "deeply troubled" about the case. Mr Bush issued a statement saying that the United States expected Afghan officials to "honour the universal principle of freedom" in the case. Germany, Italy and other countries that have deployed troops in Afghanistan have also issued statements of concern.