Is she a victim of the U.S. or is she 'Terror Mom'?

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Is she a victim of the U.S. or is she 'Terror Mom'?

Aafia Siddiqui is awaiting a verdict after her trial in the U.S. on attempted murder charges. Many in Pakistan consider her a hero and a victim of persecution.
February 03, 2010|By Alex Rodriguez

Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan — Depending on which side of the globe you call home, she's either Lady Al Qaeda or the incarnation of America's persecution of Muslims.

Aafia Siddiqui, 37, a neuroscientist and mother of three, was once branded by the U.S. as the most wanted woman in the world, an Al Qaeda facilitator who posed a "clear and present danger to the U.S.," then-U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft told reporters in 2004.

These days, the diminutive Pakistani woman sits in the custody of New York authorities, awaiting a verdict on charges that she attempted to murder FBI agents and U.S. Army officers in Afghanistan in July 2008, when she allegedly picked up an unattended rifle and fired at the agents and officers.

In Pakistan, however, Siddiqui is a victim and a hero, a courageous patriot who has withstood years of torture at the U.S. detention facility in Bagram, Afghanistan. Pakistanis insist that the charges are fabricated and the U.S. has only one option for righting the wrongs it's committed: Send their beloved Aafia home.

"It's a witch hunt, and it's got nothing to do with what the truth really is," says Attiya Inayatullah, a Pakistani lawmaker with the PML-Q party and a leading advocate for Siddiqui's cause. "You cannot do this to Aafia. It's nothing but villainy. At a recent candlelight vigil for Aafia, my placard read, 'FBI gangsters, return our daughter, Aafia.' "

Given the symbolic value of Siddiqui's case, a guilty verdict in New York could cause a firestorm of anti-American sentiment in a country where the U.S is already viewed as a malevolent intruder.

Amina Janjua, an Islamabad human rights activist, said rage over the case could spill into the streets.

"When Pakistanis go wild, they can do anything," Janjua said. "Every second that the U.S. holds our daughter, they are testing the whole nation, testing how much patience we have, how much we can tolerate."

Pakistanis have a list of gripes against the U.S.

They're angry that U.S. drone missile strikes aimed at Taliban fighters continue in tribal areas. Despite denials from both the U.S. and Pakistani governments, they accuse the controversial American security firm once known as Blackwater of secretly operating in their country.

Siddiqui's case, however, has given Pakistanis a face to rally around. Demonstrations on her behalf have been attended by thousands, from Lahore to Karachi to Islamabad. Activists have sought intervention by the Pakistani government, which has agreed to pay for Siddiqui's defense team and has pushed the U.S. to repatriate her to Pakistan.

Pakistani scientist alleges torture


http://tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=212659

Pakistani citizen Aafia Siddiqui has told jurors at her trial in U.S. that she was held in a secret prison in Afghanistan, her children were tortured, and the case against her is a sham.


On Tuesday, Siddiqui was thrown out of the New York courtroom where her trail is being held after shouting the remarks at the jurors.

The MIT-educated neuroscientist is currently on trial, facing charges of trying to kill U.S. soldiers and FBI agents in Afghanistan in 2008 and connections with Al-Qaeda operatives.

She was ejected from her federal court trial after her second outburst, Bloomberg reported.

“Since I'll never get a chance to speak,"" she said in the courtroom. ""If you were in a secret prison, or your children were tortured…""

She insisted that she knew nothing about a plan to carry out terrorist attacks on targets in New York, The New York Daily News reported.

""Give me a little credit, this is not a list of targets of New York,"" she said. ""I was never planning to bomb it. You're lying.""

Siddiqui vanished in Karachi, Pakistan with her three children on March 30, 2003. The next day it was reported in local newspapers that she had been taken into custody on terrorism charges.

U.S. officials allege Aafia Siddiqui was seized on July 17, 2008 by Afghan security forces in Ghazni province and claim that documents, including formulas for explosives and chemical weapons, were found in her handbag.

They say that while she was being interrogated, she grabbed a U.S. warrant officer's M-4 rifle and fired two shots at FBI agents and military personnel but missed and that the warrant officer then fired back, hitting her in the torso.

She was brought to the United States to face charges of attempted murder and assault. Siddiqui faces 20 years in prison if convicted.

However, human rights organizations have cast doubt on the accuracy of the U.S. account of the event.

Many political activists believe she was Prisoner 650 of the U.S. detention facility in Bagram, Afghanistan, where they say she was tortured for five years until one day U.S. authorities announced that they had found her in Afghanistan.