ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) - Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said he will weep if a 30-year-old woman sentenced to death by stoning for having sex outside of marriage is killed, but added he has faith the court system will overturn her sentence.
However, Obasanjo gave no sign he would intervene directly in the case, despite an international outcry that he prevent the execution.
It was the first time the president spoke about single mother Amina Lawal since an Islamic court in the northern town of Funtua last week rejected her appeal against the stoning sentence.
``I don't think what is going on will lead to her death,'' Obasanjo told reporters. ``Indeed if it does, which I very much doubt, I will weep for myself, I will weep for Amina and I will weep for Nigeria.''
Governments and human rights organizations around the world have urged Obasanjo's administration to intercede in Lawal's case. The U.S. State Department has expressed concern about the case and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer warned Nigeria will face international outrage if the sentence is applied.
Obasanjo has the power to commute Lawal's sentence if she loses her appeal at the Supreme Court, according to officials. But the president did not mention plans to do so in his comments Saturday.
Nigeria's justice minister has said government lawyers will assist Lawal's legal team during her next appeal, which will test the authority of Islamic courts to hand down such sentences.
Nigeria is deeply divided about the application of Islamic law, or Shariah, which calls for cutting off a hand to punish theft and death for adultery.
Decisions by a dozen states in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north to adopt the strict Islamic code since 1999 sparked clashes with the region's Christian minority that killed hundreds.
Lawal is the second woman to be condemned under Islamic law for having sex out of wedlock, but she is the first to lose an appeal.
Safiya Hussaini had a similar sentence overturned in March on her first appeal.
Lawal was sentenced in March after giving birth to a daughter more than nine months after divorcing.
Her conviction was upheld on the basis that she admitted having sex outside marriage. The man she identified as her baby's father denied the accusation and was acquitted for lack of evidence.
Lawal's lawyers filed an appeal and stay of execution last week with a higher Islamic court. If that fails, they can appeal to the Supreme Court.