ROME, March 30: Abdul Rahman, the Afghan Christian who narrowly escaped the death penalty after converting from Islam, has gone to ground in Italy shortly after arriving in Rome in a security operation shrouded in secrecy.

The 41-year-old convert was formally granted refugee status on Thursday, Italy’s interior ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said Rahman, who was spirited into the country on Tuesday, had been granted refugee status on the ground he had been “persecuted for religious motives.”

Rahman’s movements since flying out of Kabul have been cloaked in secrecy, with Italy’s intelligence service shepherding him quietly into the country on Tuesday night.

According to unsourced Italian media reports, Rahman was spirited into Rome’s Ciampino airport aboard a government Falcon jet, and immediately taken to a secret location where he has remained under 24-hour security.

He was given a medical examination and, while described as tired, he was reported to be in good physical health.—AFP