Afghan convert says ready to die for Christ

Rahman said he converted to Christianity after leaving Afghanistan 16 years ago. In Pakistan he worked for a humanitarian organization where Catholics told him of their faith.

"I read the Bible and it opened my heart and mind," he said.

When Rahman returned to Afghanistan after working in Germany, the wife and two daughters he had left behind reported him to the authorities, saying he forced them to read the Bible and recite Christian prayers, something he denies.

"It's not true. When I returned, I explained the choice I had made," he said. "It wasn't a provocation. They saw I wasn't praying with them and that I was reading the Bible. They asked me and I told the truth. I had become a Christian.

"I have done nothing to repent, I respect Afghan law as I respect Islam. But I chose to become a Christian, for myself, for my soul. It is not an offence."