Karachi: Pakistan will launch a fresh
diplomatic and legal campaign for the release of Dr Aafia
Siddiqui, a Pakistani national found guilty by a US Court last
week of trying to kill American servicemen in Afghanistan,
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said.
Gilani, who met Dr Aafia’s sister Dr Fauzia and her
mother at the Governor House here today, said that every
effort would be made to get the Pakistani national released
from detention in the US.
Dr Fauzia threatened to stage a sit-in before
Parliament House if the government did not pursue Dr Aafia’s
case immediately.
37-year-old Dr Aaafia, a US-educated Pakistani, is a
neuroscientist trained at the prestigious Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, was found guilty on all charges by a
jury in federal court.
She was accused of being a would-be terrorist who in
July 2008 grabbed a rifle at an Afghan police station where
she was being interrogated and tried to gun down a group of US
servicemen.
The Federal court will announce her punishment in May.
Pakistan government has expressed its dismay over the
US court verdict.
Gillani said the government was making intense
diplomatic and legal efforts and will consult the family of
the victims to determine the future course of action.
Talking to a news channel, Dr Fauzia said that the
Prime Minister has summoned a meeting over the issue to be
attended by Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Foreign Minister
Qureshi and US Ambassador Hussain Haqqani.
PTI
First Published: Monday, February 08, 2010, 21:58