ROME: A Sudanese woman who was sentenced to death for converting from Islam to Christianity, then detained after her conviction was quashed, flew into Rome on an Italian government plane on Thursday and hours later met the Pope.

Mariam Yahya Ibrahim, whose sentence and detention triggered international outrage, walked off the aircraft cradling her baby and was greeted by Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi.

Soon afterwards, Ibrahim, her husband and two children had a private meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican. “The Pope thanked her for her witness to faith,” Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said.

The meeting, which lasted around half an hour, was intended as a “sign of closeness and solidarity for all those who suffer for their faith,” he added.

There were no details on what led up to the 27-year-old’s departure after a month in limbo in Khartoum, but a senior Sudanese official said it had been cleared by the government.—Reuters

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2014