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| Africa Horn |
| Meriam Ibrahim detained at a Khartoum airport |
| 2014-06-26 |
| [NYDAILYNEWS] The fate of a Sudanese mom who escaped a death sentence for being a Christian is now the center of a diplomatic tussle. Sudan has summoned American and South Sudanese ambassadors for their roles in attempting to help Meriam Ibrahim flee the country. Ibrahim was detained at a Khartoum airport on Tuesday, after she allegedly tried to use an American visa and South Sudanese emergency travel documents to leave the country, NBC reports. The U.S. State Department confirmed that the U.S. embassy in Sudan was "highly involved" in Ibrahim's case. "The government has assured us of their safety," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters. "We are engaging directly with Sudanese officials to secure their safe and swift departure from Sudan." South Sudan confirmed that the South Sudanese travel documents were issued from that country's embassy in Sudan. But Sudanese authorities disagree on whether she is a South Sudanese citizen, so carrying the travel documents amounts to a crime. Ibrahim's husband, Daniel Wani, is a naturalized American citizen who is originally from South Sudan, a Christian majority country that split from Sudan in 2011. Even though Ibrahim's death sentence was overturned on Monday, the government doesn't consider her marriage to Wani legal. She was raised a Christian, but her dad was a Muslim. Children are required to follow the faith of their fathers and Muslim women aren't allowed to marry outside the faith. "The airport passport police arrested Abrar after she presented emergency travel documents issued by the South Sudanese embassy and carrying an American visa," Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services' media department said on Facebook, referring to Ibrahim by her Muslim name. |
| Posted by:Fred |