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Sudan woman on apostasy charge lands in US

The Sudanese woman who had been sentenced to death for apostasy has finally arrived in the US, where she will make her home.

Meriam Ibrahim, from Sudan, with her daughter Maya in her arms leaves to Philadelphia (USA) from Rome (AAP)
Meriam Ibrahim, from Sudan, with her daughter Maya in her arms leaves to Philadelphia (USA) from Rome (AAP)

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A Sudanese woman who refused to recant her Christian faith in the face of a death sentence, which was later overturned, has arrived in the US after a flight from Rome.

Meriam Ibrahim stopped in Philadelphia briefly on Thursday before flying on to New Hampshire, where she will make her new home.

Her husband, Daniel Wani, who has US citizenship, had previously lived in New Hampshire and has family there.

While in Rome, Ibrahim last week met privately with Pope Francis.

Hundreds of southern Sudanese refugees have settled in New Hampshire over the years.

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Wani had been granted US citizenship when he fled to the US as a child to escape civil war, but he later returned to Africa.

Sudan initially blocked Ibrahim from leaving the country, even after its highest court overturned her death sentence in June. At one point, the family took refuge at the US embassy in Khartoum.

Ibrahim had been sentenced to death over charges of apostasy. Her father was Muslim, and her mother was an Orthodox Christian. She married Wani, a Christian, in 2011.

Muslim women in Sudan are prohibited from marrying non-Muslims. By law, children must follow their father's religion.

A small gathering is planned at the airport in Manchester, New Hampshire, later on Thursday, said Gabriel Wani, Ibrahim's brother-in-law. He spoke to his brother and said the family is doing well.


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