by David Usborne
A US-trained neuroscientist's appearance in a New York court charged with
the attempted murder of American soldiers and FBI agents has sparked angry
protests in her homeland of Pakistan.
Aafia Siddiqui, 36, is under suspicion of having links to the al-Qa'ida
terror network of Osama bin Laden, and is the first woman ever sought by the
US in connection with the group, which was behind the September 2001 attacks
on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
According to US officials, Ms Siddiqui, who reportedly studied at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, was arrested in Afghanistan
on 17 July in possession of recipes for explosives and chemical weapons, as
well as details of landmarks in the United States, including in New York.
Yesterday's charges related only to events that allegedly took place shortly
after she was taken into custody in the town of Ghazni. Ms Siddiqui is
accused of grabbing hold of a rifle belonging to one of the soldiers who was
trying to arrest her and firing two shots at the men, while shouting phrases
like: "My blood be directly on your head." . . .
FULL TEXT
[Dr Siddiqui, 36, is an American-educated neuroscientist. Since 2003,
Siddiqui's whereabouts have been the source of much speculation. According
to Amnesty International, Siddiqui and her three small children were
reported apprehended in Karachi, Pakistan, in March 2003 after the FBI
issued at alert requesting information about her location earlier that
month.
Several reports indicated Siddiqui was in US custody after her arrest in
Karachi. But in May 2004 then-Attorney General Ashcroft and FBI Director
Robert Mueller identified Siddiqui among several sought-after al Qaeda
members
Human rights group and a lawyer for Ms. Siddiqui, Elaine Whitfield Sharp,
say they believe that she has been secretly detained since 2003, for much of
that time at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. . . .
I personally spoke with Lt Col Mark Wright at the US Pentagon who denied all
knowledge of Prisoner 650 or Dr Aafia Siddique.
Now I don't believe for one minute Lt Col Mark Wright was lying Ğ in fact I
did suggest to him that the people he was speaking to in Afghanistan (the
FBI) might be lying to him.--Yvonne Ridley, "Prisoner
650," RESPECT, July 5, 2008]
[The American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), initially admitted that
they had arrested Dr. Afia and then later denied it. Now, due to the
coverage of the UA both in Pakistan and internationally, the FBI has now
announced that "Dr. Afia Siddiqui is alive, she is in Afghanistan but she is
injured". No further details have been provided and the AHRC is especially
concerned about the three children who were also abducted along with her. It
is reported that after receiving hundreds of responses to the UA initiated
by the AHRC, the American and Pakistani authorities were compelled to issue
information of the whereabouts of Afia Siddiqui who had been missing for
five years after being arrested by the Pakistani Intelligence Agency. Acting
on the information received, the AHRC in its appeal suspected that Dr. Afia
is being kept in Bagram jail, Afghanistan, and that because of severe
torture, had lost her mind. At this point people responded in their hundreds
which pressured the American authorities. On 1st August an FBI official
visited the house of Dr. Afia's brother in Houston to deliver the news that
she is alive and in custody, Ms. Elaine Whitfield Sharp, Dr. Afia's lawyer,
said that FBI officials would not say exactly who is holding her or reveal
the fate of her three young, American-born children.
It is also reported that after filing a habeas corpus writ petition in the
Islamabad High Court, Dr. Afia's friends and relatives were threatened by
several state agencies of Pakistan to withdraw the case or face the same
situation.--"FBI
is responsible for disappearances, illegal detention and
torture," Asian Human Rights Commission, August 4, 2008
Petra Bartosiewicz, "The intelligence
factory: How America makes its enemies disappear," Harpers, November
2009
[The prosecution is but the latest twist in one of the most intriguing
episodes of America's "war on terror". At its heart is the MIT-educated
Siddiqui, once declared the world's most wanted woman. In 2003 she
mysteriously vanished for five years, during which time she was variously
dubbed the "Mata Hari of al-Qaida" or the "Grey Lady of Bagram", an iconic
victim of American brutality.--Declan Walsh, "The
mystery of Dr Aafia Siddiqui," Guardian, November 24, 2009]
[Any American who is illegally detained and imprisoned without due process
can't be charged with a crime for resisting torture or imprisonment.--Gordon
Duff, "WOMAN KIDNAPPED, RAPED AND HELD 5 YEARS IN
SECRET BAGRAM PRISON NOW FACING TRIAL FOR ATTACKING CIA TORTURE
SQUAD," veteranstoday.com, January 10, 2010]
Petra Bartosiewicz, "A Pakistani on Trial - With No Pakistani Reporters,"
Times, January 23, 2010
Mauri Saalakhan, "Dr. Aafia Siddiqui testifies at her trial," REALnews,
February 1, 2010
[Her lawyer, Elaine Sharp, said: "This verdict is based on fear, not on
fact."--Ed Pilkington, "Pakistani scientist found guilty of attempted
murder of US agents," Guardian, February 4, 2010
"Ignoring Torture
Claims and Questionable Evidence, New York Jury Convicts Pakistani Scientist
Aafia Siddiqui," Democracy Now!, February 4, 2010
John Floyd and Billy Sinclair, "86-year Prison Term for Dr. Siddiqui: Victory in
Courtroom is Loss on Worldwide Public Stage," johntfloyd.com,
December 5, 2010
