Mullah Assad Ullah - Former mullah, Afganistan
Taliban militants target converts to Christianity
September 9 (Compass) - Five Afghan men who had converted to Christianity
have been killed in separate incidents since late June near the borders of
eastern Afghanistan.
All five men were stabbed or beaten to death in summary executions by
Taliban adherents who accused them of abandoning Islam and then "spreading
Christianity" in their communities.
The first stabbing death was reported on July 1 by Reuters news agency,
which received a telephone call from a Taliban spokesman identifying
himself
as Abdul Latif Hakimi.
The caller declared that a group of Taliban fighters had killed Mullah
Assad
Ullah the previous day in Ghazni province's remote Awdand region, a known
Taliban stronghold and traditional seat of Islamic learning.
"A group of Taliban dragged out Mullah Assad Ullah and slit his throat
with
a knife because he was propagating Christianity," Hakimi told Reuters. "We
have enough evidence and local accounts to prove that he was involved in
the
conversion of Muslims to Christianity."
Hakimi went on to accuse a number of foreign aid agencies of involvement
in
spreading Christianity among Afghanistan's overwhelmingly Muslim
population.
"We warn them that they face the same destiny as Assad Ullah if they
continue to seduce people," he told Reuters. At least 33 foreign aid
workers
have been killed by the Taliban in the past 18 months.
According to local sources, Assad Ullah was seized in broad daylight while
at the market buying fruit and vegetables for his family. His attackers
reportedly dragged his dead body around the market area, shouting warnings
that the same fate awaited anyone else who listened to his heretical
teachings.
The former mullah had first obtained a copy of the New Testament about
five
years ago, while still living under the Taliban regime. He had been
baptized
secretly about two and one-half years ago.
In his mid-40s, Assad Ullah is survived by a widow and four daughters,
ages
7 to 14.
The murder of another Afghan convert to Christianity who had gone to visit
Assad Ullah's family was confirmed on August 7. According to a fellow
convert, the body of Naveed ul-Rehman was discovered in early August near
his abandoned car in Awdand, at the same marketplace where the former
mullah
had been killed.
Nothing had been stolen from ul-Rehman's pockets or car, nor was any
evidence found to reveal the identity of his attackers.
About 40 years of age, ul-Rehman was a well educated Afghan who had been
living in Kabul since his return to Afghanistan. He was married without
children.
During the month of July, another three Afghan Christians were stabbed or
beaten to death in separate incidents on July 15, July 23 and July 28.
Each
left behind a wife and several children.
The three men had been accused by their attackers of studying the Bible,
praying in the name of Jesus or associating with other known Afghan
converts
to Christianity.
In the context of a closed, strictly Muslim society, Afghanistan's new
provisional constitution adopted in December 2003 falls short of any
guarantee of religious freedom for its citizens. The document declares
Islam
the religion of the state, with all laws required to conform to the tenets
of Islamic law.
http://www.compassdirect.org/en/newslongen.php?idelement=208
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