Taleban threatens death for converts

The supreme leader of the ruling Taleban in Afghanistan, Mullah Mohamad Omar, has decreed that the death penalty will be applied to any Muslim who converted to another faith

The same penalty will also apply to those who attempted to convert Muslims.

Mullah Omar said he was acting in response to what he called a global campaign against Islam.

He said strict Islamic law Sharia applied to any Afghan Muslim who was caught professing Christianity or Judaism, including distributing literature and other publicity material promoting non-Islamic faiths.

A senior Taleban spokesman Abdul Hai Mutmaen explained that the edict was necessary because of what he described as secret plots - both inside Afghanistan and abroad - to turn Afghans against Islam.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service