Rice to speak with Karzai about condemned reporter

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that she will speak with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on behalf of a 23-year-old Afghan reporter who has been sentenced to death for handing out an allegedly anti-Islamic paper to his class.

Sayad Parwez Kambaksh shared the paper with his teacher and fellow students at Balkh University, and several classmates complained to local authorities.

Karzai said Tuesday that he was concerned about the man’s death sentence but would not attempt to intervene until the courts had their final say.