over charges of apostasy.
The Sudanese woman who was spared a death sentence for converting from
Islam to Christianity, and then barred from leaving Sudan, arrived in
Italy on Thursday, an Italian government official said, according to a
story published by the Voice of America.
Meriam Yahya Ibrahim, 27, was on a plane accompanied by Italy's vice
minister of foreign affairs, Lapo Pistelli, according to the official
who asked not to be named.
"Meriam, the young Christian woman held in Khartoum after being
condemned to death for apostasy, should be arriving in Italy on a
government flight," the official said in a text message, without
specifying when the flight had left.
In late June, Ibrahim was arrested as she tried to board a plane for
the United States. Sudanese police accused her of traveling with a
forged passport. Three days after that arrest, she was released and
immediately sought refuge in the U.S. embassy with her husband - a
South Sudanese-born U.S. citizen - and their two children. The family
had stayed there nearly a month.
In Washington, Marie Harf, the U.S. State Department Deputy
Spokeswoman acknowledged the family's arrival, and said they are safe.
"Italian officials worked with both American and Sudanese officials in
her departure," Harf said in the department's press briefing on
Thursday.
A few hours after landing in Rome, Ibrahim and her family met with
Pope Francis, who blessed her. A U.S.A Today article reports that
Ibrahim's family will leave for the United States after a few days in
Rome.
Ibrahim's mother was a Christian and her father a Muslim. Under
Sudanese law, she is a Muslim even though she was brought up as a
Christian after her father abandoned the family.
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