Afghan cleric, 60, marries girl, 6

An elderly Afghan cleric has been arrested after he married a six-year-old girl, officials said yesterday, in the latest case highlighting the scourge of child marriages in the war-battered country. Mohammad Karim, said to be aged around 60, was held in central Ghor province as he claimed her parents gave him the girl as a "religious offering", officials said. "This girl does not speak, but repeats only one thing: 'I am afraid of this man'," said the officials. The girl's family, who said she was abducted, is on the way to collect the infant.