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Karachi: Pakistan has demanded consular access to a Pakistani woman with suspected links to Al Qaida who was due to be arraigned in New York on Tuesday on charges of attempting to murder US troops and FBI agents in Afghanistan.
The New York Times newspaper said Aafia Siddiqui, a US-trained neuroscientist, has links to at least two of 14 suspected high-level Al Qaida members held at Guantanamo Bay.
The story of her arrest is one of the strangest to emerge since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Afghan police arrested Siddiqui after becoming suspicious of her behaviour outside the provincial governor's compound in the city of Ghazni on July 17, the US Department of Justice said.
Police found documents describing bomb-making and excerpts from the book, Anarchist's Arsenal, as well as papers describing US landmarks and substances sealed in bottles and jars. The next day, US soldiers and two FBI agents arrived at the Afghan police station where Siddiqui was being held.
"The personnel entered a second floor meeting room, unaware that Siddiqui was being held there, unsecured, behind a curtain," the department said on its website. A US warrant officer placed his rifle on the ground, next to the curtain. "Shortly after the meeting began, the captain heard a woman yell from the curtain and, when he turned, saw Siddiqui holding the warrant officer's rifle and pointing it directly at the captain," the Justice Department statement said.
"The interpreter seated closest to Siddiqui lunged at her and pushed the rifle away as Siddiqui pulled the trigger. Siddiqui fired at least two shots but no one was hit. The warrant officer returned fire with a 9 mm service pistol and fired approximately two rounds at Siddiqui's torso, hitting her at least once."
Rape
Family members said Siddiqui was raped and tortured at Bagram. "Her rape and torture is a crime beyond anything she was ever accused of," Fauzia Siddiqui told reporters in Karachi.
"For a long time, my family and I have kept our silence because we knew she was innocent and also based on threats of severe consequences if we spoke," she said. Fauzia Siddiqui said her sister would not receive a fair trial.
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