An Afghan man who had faced execution for converting to Christianity disappeared Tuesday after he was released from prison.

There was speculation that 41-year-old Abdul Rahman had gone into hiding out of fear for his life as Muslim clerics threatening to incite Afghans to kill him upon his release.

Italy's Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini was among the first to speak out on Rahman's behalf, saying he would appeal to his government to grant Rahman asylum at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Fini had earlier expressed Italy's "indignation" over the case. Pope Benedict XVI also appealed to Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai to protect Rahman.

On Monday, the United Nations revealed Rahman was seeking asylum outside Afghanistan.

"We expect this will be provided by one of the countries interested in a peaceful solution to this case," UN spokesman Adrian Edwards said.

Rahman was released from the high-security Policharki prison on the outskirts of Kabul late Monday, Afghan Justice Minister Mohammed Sarwar Danish told The Associated Press.

"We released him last night because the prosecutors told us to," he said. "His family was there when he was freed, but I don't know where he was taken."

Deputy Attorney-General Mohammed Eshak Aloko said prosecutors had written a letter calling for Rahman's release because "he was mentally unfit to stand trial."

While Aloko was not sure of Rahman's whereabouts, he indicated that he could have been sent overseas to receive medical treatment

On Monday, several hundred clerics, students and others, rallied in northern Afghanistan against a court decision to dismiss the case against Rahman.

The protesters chanted "Death to Bush!" and other anti-Western slogans, and warned the international community to back off.

Rahman told a judge at a preliminary hearing earlier this month that he became a Christian while working for an international aid group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan some 15 years ago.

He was arrested last month after it was disclosed in a child custody case with his wife that he had converted to Christianity.

While Islam accepts Christianity as a fellow monotheistic religion, Islamic Shariah law considers conversion to any religion apostasy and most Muslim scholars agree the punishment is death.