Talk-Show 'Sorcerer' Wins Saudi Reprieve

Lebanese man dodges beheading—for now
By Emily Rauhala,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 2, 2010 1:46 AM CDT
Talk-Show 'Sorcerer' Wins Saudi Reprieve
Lebanon hopes King Abdullah will stop the execution.   (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A TV talk-show host condemned to die by beheading for "sorcery" by a Saudi court has won a reprieve. Officials, however, gave no indication that his sentence would be commuted, or that he would be released. Ali Hussain Sibat offered predictions and advice on a call-in program in Beirut until he was arrested by Saudi religious police in 2008 while on a pilgrimage. Lebanese officials have called his controversial sentence "disproportionate" and demanded his release, CNN notes.
(More Saudi Arabia stories.)

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