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Will Obama Save Meraim Ibrahim and Her Babies?
Townhall.com ^ | June 4, 2014 | Terry Jeffrey

Posted on 06/04/2014 10:12:30 AM PDT by Kaslin

As of this writing, Meriam Ibrahim sits shackled in the cell in the Omdurman Federal Women's Prison in Sudan that she shares with her two babies, Martin and Maya.

This is the family of an American citizen -- being persecuted for their Christian faith by a foreign government.

How did they end up in a Sudanese prison? Meriam's husband is Daniel Wani, a naturalized U.S. citizen, who, according to the Manchester Union Leader, moved from Sudan to New Hampshire in 1998. He was naturalized in 2005. In December 2011, according to the Daily Mail, he and Meriam were married in a Christian church in Sudan.

Their son, Martin, was born 20 months ago in Sudan. Their daughter, Maya, was born last week in the Omdurman prison.

Meriam, who is 27, was raised as a Christian in Sudan by her Ethiopian Orthodox mother. Her father, a Muslim, reportedly abandoned the family when Meriam was six.

In Sudan, the children of Muslim fathers are not allowed to be Christians -- no matter what their hearts, minds and souls tell them. Freedom of conscience does not exist.

On May 15, a Sudanese court convicted Meriam of "apostasy" because she refused to renounce her Christianity and become a Muslim. For this "crime," the Sudanese court sentenced her to death.

The court also convicted Meriam of "adultery" -- for her relationship with her own husband -- because Sudan refuses to recognize the marriage of a Christian man to a Muslim woman. For this "crime," the court sentenced her to be flogged before she is hanged.

Martin is in jail with his mother because Sudan considers him to be a Muslim, too, and will not release him to his Christian father.

Sudan will allow Meriam to nurse the infant Maya in prison for two years -- then it will hang Meriam.

Meriam has demonstrated a saintly courage. Daniel recounted for the Mail a conversation she had with him when he was allowed to visit her in prison.

"If they want to execute me then they should go ahead and do it because I'm not going to change my faith," she told her husband. "I refuse to change. I am not giving up Christianity just so that I can live. I know I could stay alive by becoming a Muslim and I would be able to look after our family, but I need to be true to myself."

British Prime Minister David Cameron has personally spoken out in defense of this wife of a U.S. citizen.

"The way she is being treated is barbaric and has no place in today's world," Cameroon told the Times of London. "Religious freedom is an absolute, fundamental human right. I urge the government of Sudan to overturn the sentence and immediately provide appropriate support and medical care for her and her children. The U.K. will continue to press the government of Sudan to act."

What has President Barack Obama personally said about the plight of U.S. citizen's family? So far, nothing. What has Secretary of State John Kerry personally said? So far, nothing.

Spokespersons at the White House and the State Department have made statements, but not the president or the secretary of state.

Daniel Wani told the Mail that the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum has not been helpful to him.

"They said 'well your wife isn't American, so we can't help,'" Wani said. "I felt disgusted. My home is in America, and still they won't help. It's getting uglier, and it's not going in the right direction."

"I have provided wedding documents and the baby's birth certificate, but this is clearly not enough," he said. "It's very upsetting that they don't believe me."

Wani said the embassy wanted DNA evidence to prove his son was his son.

"They want me to take a DNA sample in Khartoum, then send it to the U.S. for testing," Wani told the Mail. "It's as if they don't believe a word I say."

Citing the Privacy Act, State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki initially declined to concede that Daniel Wani was a U.S. citizen. Then Wani signed a Privacy Act waiver and Psaki stated that he was a citizen, but would not concede that his children Martin and Maya are also citizens.

"We don't have all the information we would need in this case," she said.

The administration appears to be playing hardball with Daniel Wani when it comes to establishing the citizenship of his children, but softball with the Sudanese government when it comes to protecting those children and their mother.

Perhaps the administration has been working intensely behind the scenes to free this family and is wary of saying something publicly that would hurt rather than help the cause. That would be understandable.

Or perhaps working out the deal to free five Taliban prisoners was more important to this administration than working to free the family of an American citizen imprisoned because they are Christians.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: ibrahim; meriam; sentencedtohang; wani

1 posted on 06/04/2014 10:12:30 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

She’s Christian. Obama won’t even recognize her.


2 posted on 06/04/2014 10:14:38 AM PDT by hattend (Firearms and ammunition...the only growing industries under the Obama regime.)
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To: hattend

3 posted on 06/04/2014 10:15:56 AM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
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To: Kaslin

Of course not.

She’s haram.


4 posted on 06/04/2014 10:16:06 AM PDT by muir_redwoods (When I first read it, " Atlas Shrugged" was fiction)
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To: Kaslin

Only if it saves Obama politically in some way or promotes Socialism. Those seem to be his only motivation.


5 posted on 06/04/2014 10:16:35 AM PDT by PapaNew
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To: Kaslin

hey let’s offer them JOE BIDEN in exchange!!!


6 posted on 06/04/2014 10:17:09 AM PDT by MeshugeMikey ( "Never, never, never give up". Winston Churchill)
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To: Kaslin

[ Or perhaps working out the deal to free five Taliban prisoners was more important to this administration than working to free the family of an American citizen imprisoned because they are Christians. ]

Trading her and he two children for TEN of the worst Guantanimo Bay Detainees WOULD HAVE BEEN A FAR BETTER TRADE than “Baghdad Bowe”


7 posted on 06/04/2014 10:18:23 AM PDT by GraceG
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To: Kaslin

Is Islam voluntary?

Religions are voluntary.
Cults are not.


8 posted on 06/04/2014 10:19:24 AM PDT by joshua c (Please dont feed the liberals)
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To: All

Where is NOW on this issue?????

.........*crickets*


9 posted on 06/04/2014 10:21:47 AM PDT by Boonie
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To: hattend
She’s Christian. Obama won’t even recognize her.

I agree with you. Those persecuted as Christians (this woman and the soldier in Mexico) bear no interest to Obama. He goes to Church maybe twice a year for photo opsl When it comes to protecting muslims worldwide, he's their #1 cheerleader. Christians are being killed worldwide on a daily basis and he is mute and has never raised the issue with the nations responsible for the killings.

10 posted on 06/04/2014 10:24:00 AM PDT by MamaDearest
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To: All

Where are all the liberal democrats here in America who preach “equality” as hard as they can?????

..............*crickets*


11 posted on 06/04/2014 10:24:07 AM PDT by Boonie
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To: GraceG

Exactly


12 posted on 06/04/2014 10:36:44 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Kaslin

No.

He will not.


13 posted on 06/04/2014 10:48:14 AM PDT by ScottinVA (Obama is so far in over his head, even his ears are beneath the water level.)
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To: Kaslin

Easy answer. She’s Christian. NO. End of discussion.


14 posted on 06/04/2014 10:48:30 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Media: completely irresponsible. Complicit in the destruction of this country.)
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To: hattend

Here’s another question — Will Obama save Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi from his Mexican jail?

If the answer is NO, how much more for this poor Christian mother?


15 posted on 06/04/2014 10:54:47 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: ScottinVA

Sudanese woman sentenced to die for Christian faith to be freed, report says.

Fox News May 31
There is also an article in the UK BBC and Guardian, though the woman’s lawyer questions it legitimacy.


16 posted on 06/04/2014 11:01:25 AM PDT by BilLies (sharyl attkisson is alive and well HOORAY!!!!!)
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