Global InformationAafia Siddiqui information
Aafia Siddiqui | |
|---|---|
عافیہ صدیقیؒ | |
 | |
| Born | 2 March 1972 Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan |
| Other names | Afiya Siddiqui |
| Education |
|
| Height | 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)[1] |
| Board member of | Institute of Islamic Research and Teaching (President)[2][3] |
| Criminal charge(s) | Attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon |
| Criminal penalty | Convicted; sentenced to 86 years in prison[4][5] |
| Criminal status | Held in the FMC Carswell, Fort Worth, Texas, United States[6][7] |
| Spouses | Amjad Mohammed Khan
(m. 1995; div. 2002)Ammar al-Baluchi
(m. 2003; div. 2003) |
| Children | 3, including Mohammad Ahmed |
Aafia Siddiqui (also spelled Afiya;[8] Urdu: عافیہ صدیقی; born 2 March 1972) is a Pakistani national who is serving an 86-year sentence at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, United States for attempted murder and other felonies.[6][9]
Siddiqui was born in Pakistan to a Sunni Muslim family.[1] For a period from 1990, she studied in the United States and obtained a B.S. in biology[10] from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Brandeis University in 2001.[11][12] She returned to Pakistan for a time following the 9/11 attacks and again in 2003 during the war in Afghanistan. Khalid Sheikh Mohammad named her a courier and financier for al-Qaeda, and she was placed on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations's Seeking Information – Terrorism list; she was the first woman to have been featured on the list.[13][14][15] Around this time, she and her three children were allegedly kidnapped in Pakistan.[13]
Five years later, she reappeared in Ghazni, Afghanistan, and was arrested by Afghan police and held for questioning by the FBI. While in custody, Siddiqui allegedly told the FBI she had gone into hiding but later disavowed her testimony and stated she had been abducted and imprisoned. Supporters believe she was held captive at Bagram Air Force Base as a ghost detainee, an allegation the U.S. government denies. During the second day in custody, she allegedly shot at visiting U.S. FBI and Army personnel with an M4 carbine one of the interrogators had placed on the floor by his feet. She was shot in the torso when a warrant officer returned fire. She was hospitalized, treated and then extradited to the US, where in September 2008 she was indicted on charges of assault and attempted murder of a US soldier in the police station in Ghazni, charges she denied. She was convicted on 3 February 2010 and later sentenced to 86 years in prison.
Her case has been called a "flashpoint of Pakistani-American tensions",[16] and "one of the most mysterious in a secret war dense with mysteries".[17] In Pakistan, her arrest and conviction was seen by the public as an "attack on Islam and Muslims", and occasioned large protests throughout the country;[18] while in the US, she was considered by some to be especially dangerous as "one of the few alleged Al Qaeda associates with the ability to move about the United States undetected, and the scientific expertise to carry out a sophisticated attack".[13] She has been termed "Lady al-Qaeda" by a number of media organizations due to her alleged affiliation with Islamists.[19][20][21] Islamic State have offered to trade her for prisoners on two occasions: once for James Foley and once for Kayla Mueller.[22] Pakistani news media called the trial a "farce",[18] while other Pakistanis labeled this reaction "knee-jerk Pakistani nationalism". The Pakistani Prime Minister at that time, Yusuf Raza Gilani, and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, promised to push for her release.[18]
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
DerSpiegelwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
dailytimes.com.pkwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
roxbury addresswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Tom Hays (23 September 2010). "Pakistani given 86 years for firing at US troops". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
nation 05-06-10was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Clifford, Bennett (31 March 2022). Cruickshank, Paul; Hummel, Kristina (eds.). "The Colleyville Hostage Crisis: Aafia Siddiqui's Continued Pertinence in Jihadi Terror Plots against the United States" (PDF). CTC Sentinel. 15 (3). West Point, New York: Combating Terrorism Center: 1–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
- ^ "Who is Aafia Siddiqui, the federal prisoner at the center of the Texas hostage incident?". NBC. 16 January 2022. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ Shaikh, Khanum (2018). "Gender, Vulnerability, and the Optics of Violence: The Case of Afiya Siddiqui". Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies. 39 (3): 29–54. doi:10.5250/fronjwomestud.39.3.0029. ISSN 0160-9009. JSTOR 10.5250/fronjwomestud.39.3.0029. S2CID 150300693.
- ^ "Dr Aafia Siddiqui doesn't want to return: FO spokesperson". Dunya News. 14 February 2008. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
- ^ Hawkinson, John A. (26 August 2008). "MIT Alumna Arrested in Afghanistan Disputes Govt. Case". The Tech. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "#08-765: Aafia Siddiqui Indicted for Attempting to Kill United States Nationals in Afghanistan and Six Additional Charges (2008-09-02)". www.justice.gov. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
- ^ Peter Bergen (2011). The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict Between America and Al-Qaeda. Simon & Schuster. p. 223. ISBN 978-0-7432-7894-2. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
Disturbingly, al-Qaeda has been able to recruit American-educated scientists such as Aafia Siddiqui, who has a degree in biology from MIT and a PhD in neuroscience from Brandeis.
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
emmawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
DSWW2012:245was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Scroggins, Wanted Women, 2012: p. 298
- ^ Walsh, Declan (26 April 2011). "Guantánamo files paint Aafia Siddiqui as top al-Qaida operative". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 19 February 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
- ^ Scroggins, Wanted Women, 2012: p. 416
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
seeswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Shah, Benazir. "The silence of Aafia Siddiqui". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 21 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ AFP (26 December 2014). "Aafia Siddiqui: 'Lady Al Qaeda to Lady Islamic State'". DAWN.COM. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ "Lady al Qaeda: The World's Most Wanted Woman". Foreign Policy. 26 August 2014. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ "'Lady al-Qaeda': The American-educated PhD the Islamic State desperately wants freed". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 23 February 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2017.