SYDNEY, Nov 1 (Reuters) - An Afghan man whose application for asylum was rejected by Australia has been beheaded by suspected Taliban after returning home, the Sydney Morning Herald said on Saturday. Mohammed Hussain was thrown down a well by gunmen, who then threw a hand grenade down the well and decapitated him, the newspaper said. The incident reportedly occurred in front of members of his family. Phil Glendenning, director of the human rights body the Edmund Rice Centre, told the paper he had verified the events with four different sources in Afghanistan. The killing reportedly took place within the last four weeks in a province south of Kabul. Hussain had been held on the Pacific island of Nauru under Australia's so-called 'Pacific solution' for would-be asylum seekers adopted under the conservative government of former prime minister John Howard, ousted in last year's election. A self-described poet, Hussain was sent back to Afghanistan after his application for asylum was rejected, the paper said. Prior to his death, Hussain had contacted Glendenning for help "because he was going to be killed by his enemies from the Mujahideen war", Glendenning told the paper. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd ordered the closure of the processing centre on Nauru shortly after taking office late last year. (Sydney newsroom +61 2 93731800)
Tribesmen load a truck with relief goods for earthquake survivors in Chaman, a Pakistani town along the Afghan border October 31, 2008. Pakistani soldiers scrambled on Friday to get aid to ...
