Woman who faced death over faith lands in U.S.

As published in 'The Japan News' : Woman who faced death over faith lands in U.S. 12:01 am, August 02, 2014 The Associated Press Meriam Ibrahim, left, and her husband, Daniel Wani, of Sudan are greeted by family and friends shortly after arriving in Manchester, N.H., on Thursday.

The Associated Press MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP)—A Sudanese woman who refused to recant her Christian faith in the face of a death sentence arrived Thursday in the United States, where she was welcomed first by the mayor of Philadelphia as a “world freedom fighter” and later by cheering supporters waving U.S. flags in New Hampshire. Meriam Ibrahim flew from Rome to Philadelphia with her husband and two children, en route to Manchester, where her husband has family and where they will make their new home. Her husband, Daniel Wani, his face streaked with tears, briefly thanked New Hampshire’s Sudanese community on his family’s behalf and said he appreciated the outpouring of support. Earlier in Philadelphia, Mayor Michael Nutter said people will remember Ibrahim along “with others who stood up so we could be free.” He compared her to Rosa Parks, who became a symbol of the U.S. civil rights movement when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Ala., touching off a bus boycott. Nutter said it was only fitting Ibrahim landed first in Philadelphia, a city founded as a place open to all faiths. He gave her a small replica of the Liberty Bell, a symbol of American independence, which he said she understood.