Pardon pushes Asian killer to Islam

A Sri Lankan man on the death row converted to Islam after he was pardoned by the father of a young Saudi man run over by the expatriate in Saudi Arabia.

The Buddhist driver had been ordered to pay SR300,000 (Dh300,000) diya (blood money) to the victim’s relatives in return for a pardon but he could not afford it.

“The father went to court and pardoned the man without the need to pay diya…when he was released, the Sri Lankan decided to convert to Islam,” Arar newspaper said in a report from the northwestern town of Qurayyat.