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POPE/APOSTASY WOMANBack
[Published: Friday July 25 2014]

Sudan 'apostasy' woman meets Pope Francis

The Vatican, 25 Jul - (ANA) - A Sudanese woman who fled to Italy after being spared a death sentence for renouncing Islam has met the Pope. Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag flew to Rome with her family after more than a month in the US embassy in Khartoum. There was global condemnation when she was sentenced to hang for apostasy by a Sudanese court. Mrs Ibrahim's father is Muslim so according to Sudan's version of Islamic law she is also Muslim and cannot convert. She was raised by her Christian mother and says she has never been Muslim. Welcoming her at the airport, Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said: "Today is a day of celebration." Mrs Ibrahim met Pope Francis at his Santa Marta residence at the Vatican soon after her arrival. "The Pope thanked her for her witness to faith," Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi was quoted as saying. The meeting, which lasted around half an hour, was intended to show "closeness and solidarity for all those who suffer for their faith," he added. Mrs Ibrahim's husband, Daniel Wani, also a Christian, is from South Sudan and has US nationality. Their daughter Maya was born in prison in May, shortly after Mrs Ibrahim was sentenced to hang for apostasy - renouncing one's faith. Under intense international pressure, her conviction was quashed and she was freed in June. She was given South Sudanese travel documents but was arrested at Khartoum airport, with Sudanese officials saying the travel documents were fake. These new charges meant she was not allowed to leave the country but she was released into the custody of the US embassy in Khartoum. Last week, her father's family filed a lawsuit trying to have her marriage annulled, on the basis that a Muslim woman is not allowed to marry a non-Muslim. (ANA)
FA/ANA/25 July 2014-----------

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