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I wish the president had made a strong statement in support of this man's right to live, when he was in WV a little while ago.

Relevant parts of transcript with link to the whole thing, for those who lack bandwidth or inclination to view the clip.

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 22, 2006
Remarks by the President
Capitol Music Hall Wheeling, West Virginia
Afghanistan -- I went there with Laura. We had a good visit with President Karzai. I like him -- good man. You can imagine what it's like to try to rebuild a country that had been occupied and then traumatized by the Taliban. They're coming around. They got elections. They had assembly elections. He, himself, was elected. We expect them to honor the universal principle of freedom. I'm troubled when I hear -- deeply troubled when I hear the fact that a person who has converted away from Islam may be held to account. That's not the universal application of the values that I talked about. Look forward to working with the government of that country to make sure that people are protected in their capacity to worship.
There's still a Taliban element trying to come and hurt people. But the good news is, not only do we have great U.S. troops there, but NATO is now involved. One of my jobs is to continue to make sure that people understand the benefits of a free society emerging in a neighborhood that needs freedom. And so I'm pleased with the progress, but I fully understand there's a lot more work to be done. ...
Q And back during 9/11, I lost over 300 of my brothers in New York. And I was glad that you were our President at that time and took the fight to the terrorists. But as I see you, I said earlier about the guy in Afghanistan that is going to convert to Christianity, he may get killed over there for doing that. Do you have an army of sociologists to go over there and change that country, or are you hoping that in a couple decades that we can change the mind-set over there?
THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate the question. It's a very legitimate question. We have got influence in Afghanistan and we are going to use it to remind them that there are universal values. It is deeply troubling that a country we helped liberate would hold a person to account because they chose a particular religion over another. And so we are -- we will make -- part of the messaging just happened here in Wheeling. I want to thank you for that question.
No, I think it's -- we can solve this problem by working closely with the government that we've got contacts with -- and will. We'll deal with this issue diplomatically and remind people that there is something as universal as being able to choose religion.
So thank you for the question. I understand your concerns. I share the same concerns.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060322-3.html