Brazil offers asylum to stoning case woman

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva offered to provide refuge to a woman who was sentenced to death in Iran following her conviction for committing adultery.

The case created an international outcry when Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani initially was sentenced to death by stoning.

Iran withdrew that part of the sentence earlier this month, but the mother of two could still face execution by hanging.

During a campaign rally for his party’s presidential candidate, Mr Silva appealed to Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, “to allow Brazil to grant political asylum to this woman.

“If she is causing problems there, we will welcome her here,” Mr Silva added, according to Brazil’s official news service, Agencia Brasil.

Mr Silva’s government built closer relations with Tehran in recent years. Brazil worked with Turkey earlier this year to work out a proposal aimed at resolving Iran’s dispute with the West over its nuclear programme.