No asylum for woman accused of adultery

Iran (AP):

Iran will not send a woman who had faced death by stoning on an adultery conviction to Brazil, which has offered her asylum, the president said in a TV interview broadcast yesterday.

The stoning sentence for Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, has been lifted for now, after it prompted an outcry from the United States and other governments, as well as rights groups. Brazil, which has friendly relations with Iran, offered her asylum.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told state-run, English-language Press TV he did not think there was a need to send her to Brazil and that he hoped the issue "will be solved", without explaining.

"There is a judge at the end of the day and the judges are independent. But I talked with the head of the judiciary and the judiciary also does not agree" with Brazil's proposal, Ahmadinejad said. "I think there is no need to create some trouble for President Lula and take her to Brazil," he added, referring to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The office of Brazil's president and its Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment on Ahmadi-nejad's remarks.

Though Iran has lifted the stoning sentence, it is now accusing the woman of playing a role in her husband's 2005 murder. She could still be hanged.