(AFP)

BRASILIA — Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula on Saturday offered to give asylum to an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, according to news reports.

"I want to make an appeal to my friend (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad, the supreme leader of Iran (Ali Khamenei), and to the government of Iran" to allow Brazil to take in the woman, Lula said during a campaign rally for his chosen successor in the southern city of Curitiba, the Estadao news agency reported.

Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, a 43-year-old Iranian mother of two, was sentenced to death by stoning after being convicted in 2006 of having an extramarital affair during the trial of her husband's alleged murderer, according to Amnesty International.

Her sentence sparked an outcry in Western countries, and was temporarily halted earlier this month by Iranian judiciary chief Sadeq Larijani.

Human rights activists in London on Saturday released a letter they said was written by her in which she said: "The day I was given the stoning sentence, it was as if I fell into a deep hole and I lost consciousness... I'm afraid of dying. Help me stay alive and hug my children."

Lula said Saturday: "I have to respect a country's laws, but if my friendship and regard I have for the president of Iran and the Iranian people is worth something, if this woman is causing discomfort, we could take her in in Brazil."

Lula announced the offer as he stumped for Dilma Rousseff, the candidate from his ruling Workers Party he wants to see be elected president in October.

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