Miss Kelly

Aafia Siddiqui Found Guilty of Attempted Murder

I've been remiss in covering this, but last week, Aafia Siddiqui was found guilty of attempted murder of an American soldier:

"An MIT-trained Pakistani woman was convicted this afternoon (2-3-2010) for trying to kill Americans while detained in Afghanistan in 2008."

"The tirade-prone Aafia Siddiqui, 37, was found guilty of attempted murder by a jury in Manhattan federal court, even after she denied charges that she had opened fire on US soldiers and FBI agents in Afghanistan."

"After the verdict was read, Siddiqui turned to the gallery, pointed her finger in the air and said, 'This is a verdict coming from Israel, not America, and that is where the anger belongs. I can testify to this and I have proof.' "

Ms. Siddiqui is decidedly not fond of Jews.  She tried to have jurors tested to see if they had "Jewish blood," and she tried to fire her Jewish lawyers.  Brandeis may want to be choosier about who they let in.

Aafia has been found guilty and now awaits sentencing.  We didn't learn during the trial where she was during her missing years of 2003 to 2008.  We don't know what happened to two of her three children.  (One son, Ahmad, is now in the custody of Aafia's sister, Harvard-trained doctor Fouzia, and the Siddiqui family has refused to let Dr. Muhammed Khan, the child's father ,to see him. And I thought shariah law gave greater custody rights to the father than the mother.)  We don't know how or when Aafia was  pulled into the Islamist jihadi world, although it's likely that it was through people she met at Muslim groups at MIT and at Boston area mosques, where she gave lectures and raised funds for Chechnya and Bosnia. 

Blogger Bobalu Chowdury pointed me to this hand-written letter from Aadfia.  He's transcribed it here. Excerpts:

To all Americans loyal to the USA: This comes from someone the ignorant among you may consider to be their “enemy” based on the propaganda put forth by the Zionist controlled US media. I am someone who spent in 12 years in the US and am grateful to the US for my college education, that with God’s will has allowed me to be able to analyze things and see them for what they are.

.....The US economy CANNOT handle more wars, especially wars designed to “benefit” Israel at the expense of the existence of the USA. Study the history of the Jews. They have always back-stabbed everyone who has taken pity on them and make the “fatal” error of giving them shelter. This was the “crime” of the Arabs of Palestine and least is the “crime” of th USA – and it is this cruel, ungrateful back-stabbing of the Jews that makes these has caused them to be mercilessly compelled from whatever thy gain strength. This is why “holocausts” keep happening to them repeatedly! If they would only learn to be grateful and change their behavior!! But they will not! And history will repeat itself, as it always does!

Aafia wanted this to get to the President. Good gracious, Lord Almighty.

 

Pakistan is no doubt up in arms over this, this feeds the flames of anti-Americanism there, as if that needed any more oxygen.   Meanwhile in Peshawar, Afghanistan, the Taliban are threatening to execute an American soldier they claim they're holding if Aafia is not released. The senior Taliban commander claimed that "AafiaSiddiqui’s family had approached the Taliban network through a Jirga of notables, seeking their assistance to put pressure on the US to provide her justice."  The American soldier is Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho.  According to the Idaho Mountain Express, "He is a member of the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska. He is the only U.S. soldier in captivity in Afghanistan."

 

More to follow on this.  I'm glad she was found guilty and she's not walking around Afghanistan or Pakistan or Boston.  Clearly, something was up with this woman. 

 

Phyllis Chesler discusses here.   There was an interesting comment (#34) by Annie: 

"Met Aafia Siddiqui in a social setting. She was charming and absolutely nothing she said of substance was true. She was clearly at that gathering to obtain information, if she could, from certain people there. She very closely shadowed people in the US who would have been of value to al qaeda, if kidnapped. When I questioned her about the details of her 'dance company' and her decision to dance her way into MIT, she turned on a dime and became who she was…a terrorist. She told me that she was in town on business for her charity, Benevolence International, and that she was certainly here to visit her good friend, Tanya binLaden.She escaped to Pakistan shortly afterwards, ahead of the feds."

"She didn’t like Jews and she was shadowing one at this social event."

"She wasn’t the sort of person to carry a laundry list of places to bomb…but perhaps a laundry list of databases to access, buzz words to allow her to visit other cells of al qaeda worldwide, or perhaps she was simply in charge of destroying leftover data the day she was captured."

"I know nothing about studying the proclivities of women to violence, but she is not a nice woman. She is a terrorist. I would hope the Pakistani government would not support extended appeals of her sentence. They have much to regret".

Shenanigans Continue at Aafia Siddqui Trial in NYC

But Aafia promised no more outbursts in court! The shenanigans continue at the Aafia Siddiqui trial in NYC. From the New York Times:

"The defendant was ejected from a Lower Manhattan courtroom — not once, but twice — on Monday (1-25-2010) for loudly proclaiming her innocence. And, in a separate episode between the two ejections, a spectator who pointed his thumb and index finger like a gun at the jury while mouthing an expletive was taken into custody and later released."

Isnt that contempt of court or something like that? Juror intimidation? They should have kept him in custody for the remainder of the trial.  The two jurors who said they felt threatened were dismissed by Judge Berman, and replaced by alternates. 

"The trial, which is in its second week, is taking place under heavy security in United States District Court, with a metal detector and guards at the courtroom door. Still, there have been breaches. On Monday, Judge Richard M. Berman noted some of them in explaining his ruling against a defense motion for greater public access to the court."

"So far, three people have sneaked recording devices into the courtroom, said Judge Berman, adding that one audience member had even passed a cellphone, which is also banned, to a member of the defense team."

The defense asked Judge Richard Berman for a mistrial on Monday, "saying her (Aafia's) constitutional rights to a fair trial and presumption of innocence have been violated."  AP of Pakistan provides more details on the court case:

"Other grounds for a mistrial cited by (defense lawyer) Ms. Moreno were beefed up security measures outside the courtroom requiring visitors to the trial to provide personal identification and sign in."

Judge Berman denied the motion. More details on this matter from a Caged Prisoners article on Day 5:

"After jurors were dismissed for the day, defense attorney Linda Moreno once again asked for a mistrial, saying that the U.S. Marshals had removed Siddiqui roughly from the 'courtroom in front of the jury in a manner that 'denigrates the presumption of innocence.' The judge declined Moreno's request and said that perhaps the defense should focus more on 'reigning in' their client. 'Dr. Siddiqui doesn't talk to us,' Moreno said in reference to herself and the other members of the defense team. 'I tried to talk to her today,' said Moreno. 'She indicated if I didn't leave immediately she was going to accuse me of harassment.' "

This is a zoo, a fiasco and an outrage. As Michelle Malkin notes:

"Now, imagine the scene being repeated in 12 or 20 or 25 more courtrooms across America simultaneously with similar high-value suspects and the jihadi dregs of Gitmo."

Petra Bartosiewicz, a free lance journalist who recently published an article about Siddiqui for Harper's Magazine, is closely following the trial.  Bartosiewicz is posting daily reports at Caged Prisoners.  

These are very detailed reports of the trial and testimonies, and you really get a feel for the craziness of the court room. As always, stay tuned.

Aafia Siddiqui - "I Wouldn't Want Her Living Next Door"

While Islamists around the world (and Tarek Mehanna here in the Boston area) - and their leftist "usfeul idiots" supporters - are falling over themselves with sympathy for Aafia Siddiqui, not all Muslims think she's the victim in all this.  As one blogger writes, "I wouldn't want her living next door."

Blogger Signy (an ex-Muslim), who blogs at Here in Glitnir , wrote about Aafia some months ago.  I've excerpted pieces from the blogpost, but I encourage you to read the whole thing. (The bolding is mine.)

"AafiaSiddiqui is one of the live-martyrs of the Islamist armchair jihobbyists. Yvonne Ridley, everyone’s favorite shrill hardcore convert, dubbed her the ‘grey lady of Bagram’ and insists, with a large chorus of fans, that Siddiqui was held at Bagram for four years, tortured and raped daily by those mean awful kafir Americans. It is no different than the fairy tales that are made up – or those stories which turn out to be somewhat true – about the treatment of any accused Islamist terrorist, except that she is a woman. And nothing offends the jihobbyist and Muslim masses more than when someone who isn’t a Muslim man is said to be mistreating a Muslim woman."

Trial Starts for Aafia Siddiqui on January 19, 2010 in NYC

Update on the Aafia Siddiqi case, from Dawn (Pakistani news network): 

"New York Federal Court Judge Richard Berman on Monday decided that the jury selection for the trial of Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani neuroscientist, will begin on Wednesday, Jan 13, and the trial will begin on Tuesday Jan 19."

"Dr Siddiqui is charged with attempted murder of American troops while in custody in Kabul in July of 2008. She was flown to New York in August, 2008, and formally charged."

Siddiqui expressed disatisfaction with her attorneys again) in court Monday this week:

"Siddiqui had vowed at previous pre-trial hearings to ignore her legal team and demanded a meeting with US President Barack Obama about bringing peace to Pakistan and Afghanistan. 'They are not my attorneys,' Siddiqui blurted out to spectators moments after being escorted into a Manhattan courtroom Monday. 'I have fired them many times'. "

Aafia previously objected to the "Jewish background" of her attorneys.  Silly rabbit! Who the heck doesn't want a Jewish lawyer?!  Even the ISB and MAS use Jewish lawyers!

This promises to be a zoo-ey trial. 

Declan Walsh had a good summary of this strange case in The Guardian in November 2009. My previous blogposts on Aafia Siddiqui can be found here. 

Update on Aafia Siddiqui Story, Upcoming Trial Jan 2010

Pretty good summary of the strange case of Aafia Siddiqui, from Declan Walsh of the Guardian.  Siddiqui, former student at Brandeis and MIT in the 1990's, was picked up in Afghanistan in July 2008, and she's been in U.S. custody ever since.  But where was she between 2003 and 2008?  Walsh interviews three people who ought to know something: Aafi'a sister Fowzia, her ex-husband Amjad Khan and her uncle Shams ul-Hassan Faruqi.  According to Siddiqui's sister and British journalist/radical Muslim Yvonne Ridley, Aafia was kept at the Bagram detention center.  Ridley and other Islamist organizations (Caged Prisoners) are getting lots of mileage with their utterly unsubstantiated story that Aafia was the "Grey Lady of Bagram,"  keeping other prisoners awake with her cries.  The U.S. begs to differ with Ridley's story:

"...every major security agency of the US government – army, FBI, CIA – denies having held her. Last year the US ambassador to Islamabad, Anne Patterson, went even further. She stated that Siddiqui was not in US custody 'at any time' prior to July 2008."

Aafia's ex-husband tells a different story:

"The truth of the matter, he (Khan) said, was that Siddiqui had never been sent to Bagram. Instead she spent the five years on the run, living clandestinely with her three children, under the watchful eye of Pakistani intelligence. He told me they shifted between Quetta in Baluchistan province, Iran and the Karachi house I had visited earlier that day."

"...Khan's explanation is bolstered by the one person who claims to have met the missing neuroscientist between 2003 and 2008 – her uncle, Shams ul-Hassan Faruqi."

I've read two versions of what happened to Aafia by her uncle Faruqi, and they don't quite match up either.  This mystery doesn't seem to clear up, it only becomes murkier. 

Aafia seems to have her wits about her and is in fact quite feisty these days.  She is apparently not fond of Jewish people:

"During a typically stormy hearing last Thursday, Siddiqui interrupted the judge, rebuked her own lawyers and made strident appeals to the packed courthouse. 'I am boycotting this trial,' she declared. I am innocent of all the charges and I can prove it, but I will not do it in this court.' Previously she had tried to fire her lawyers due to their Jewish background (she once wrote to the court that Jews are 'cruel, ungrateful, back-stabbing' people) and demanded to speak with President Obama for the purpose of 'making peace' with the Taliban. This time, though, she was ejected from the courtroom for obstruction. 'Take me out. I'm not coming back,' she said defiantly."

Aafia Siddiqi's trial for attempted murder of a U.S. soldier in an Afghan police station is slated to start in Janaury 2010 in New York.  Much remains mysterious in this case:

"And so the big questions may not be probed: whether the ISI or CIA abducted Siddiqui in 2003, what she did afterwards, and where her two missing children are now. In fact the framing of the charges raises a new question: if Siddiqui was such a dangerous terrorist five years ago, why is she not being charged as one now?"

Very informative article, read the whole thing!

Aafia Siddiqi NOT Unfit for Trial

Interesting reversal this morning of a previous finding of Aafia Siddiqui's mental state and her ability to stand trial, from the NY Times:

"A federal prosecutor said Monday that two psychiatrists who have examined Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist charged with trying to kill an American soldier and F.B.I. agents while in custody in Afghanistan, said she was not suffering from psychological illness that would render her unfit for trial. That assessment was in contrast to a previous evaluation of Ms. Siddiqui’s fitness."

Court Hearing for Aafia Siddiqui Today in NYC

How timely....

COURT DATE FOR DR. AAFIA SIDDIQUI

Monday, February 23th, 2009

United States District Court
500 Pearl St.
Manhattan, New York
@ 9:00am

Aafia's Ex-Husband Speaks Out - 2) Most Press Reports are False

Continuation of post below.  The ex-husband of captured terrorist supporter Affia Siddiqui spoke out recently about his ex-wife and children, in an interview in The International News: . 

"KARACHI: After six years of silence, Dr Muhammad Amjad Khan, ex-husband of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, has finally spoken up and says that most of the press reports that relate to his former wife as well as his children are false. In an exclusive talk with The News, he said that most claims are being propagated to garner public support and sympathy for Dr Aafia but are one-sided and in most instances untrue."

Aafia's Ex-Husband Speaks Out - 1) Siddiqui Family is Not Truthful

I've been meaning to post an update on the Aafia Siddiqui story, which seems to have grown a bit cold in the U.S.  Not so in Pakistan, where there are continuing calls for the release and return of Siddiqui.  Her ex-husband, Dr Muhammad Amjad Khan, recently spoke out about his ex-wife and their children.  Aafia and Khan lived for several years in Boston, while she attended MIT and her huband was an anesthesiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital.  Dr. Khan wrote a letter to the editor to Dawn magazine last December (2008), making a number of statements about the case, including these:

• After their divorce, Aafia would not let him see their three children.
• Khan was concerned that Aafia's political ambitions would be detrimental to the children's welfare.
• Aafia's mother lied in a sworn deposition (August 2003), stating that the FBI told the family that Aafia and the children were safe with them (FBI).  Khan said the FBI told the family that they were looking for Aafia and didn't know where the children were.
• Aafia's uncle, S. H. Faruqi, published an article saying that he met Aafia in January 2008, her face was altered by plastic surgery and that she had a national ID card under a fictitious name.
• Aafia's sister Fauzia was given custody of 12-year old son Ahmad.  Khan wants to know why he wasn't given custody of his own child.  The family hasn't let Khan see his own son.

Excerpts from this wrenching letter:

Aafia Siddiqui Found Incompetent to Stand Trial

Another twist in the strange story of MIT grad Aafia Siddiqui, she's been found unfit to stand trial:

" 'Mata Hari' terror suspect Aafia Siddiqui is not mentally competent to stand trial, a court-appointed psychiatrist said."

"Manhattan Federal Judge Richard Berman still plans to hold a hearing Wednesday to find out whether Siddiqui could participate in court proceedings on medication".

" 'Ms. Siddiqui is not currently competent to proceed as a result of her mental disease, which renders her unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against her or to assist properly in her defense,' says an evaluation performed by a federal prison doctor in Carswell, Texas."

"Berman ordered the evaluation after the M.I.T.-educated neuroscientist from Pakistan failed to appear for a September court hearing in Manhattan because she was unwilling to undergo a strip search."

"Siddiqui, 36, is accused of trying to kill a U.S. soldier with an M-4 rifle stolen from another soldier while she was being detained by Afghan police in July. She was shot and wounded during a scuffle."

This strikes me as very odd.  Siddiqui was lucid and rational when she was first apprehended in August 2008 and brought to the U.S.  She demanded a copy of the Koran, halal meals and female doctors to attend to her.  Sounds mentally competent to me.  In October 6, 2008, Siddiqui was visited by four Pakistani senators, as reported in the Daily Times:

"Dr Aafia Siddiqui, now being held in a Texas facility for psychiatric evaluation to determine if she is fit to stand trial, was allowed to meet the four-member Pakistani parliamentary delegation for two hours 45 minutes on Tuesday."

"Siddiqui appeared to be in much better health and physical condition than she has been since her arrest, allegedly in Afghanistan, and her removal by US authorities to the United States to face trial for attacking US personnel with an assault weapon, a story whose credibility will be tested in court. The four-member delegation from Pakistan is made up of Senator Mushahid Hussain, Sen SM Zafar, Muhammad Talha Mahmood and Saadia Khaqqan Abbasi. The four lawmakers, accompanied by Faqir Asif Hussain, counsellor at the Pakistan embassy, were able to meet Siddiqui without the presence of a US official. She was also permitted to sit next to them, instead of being separated by a partition, as is normally the case."

One of the Pakisani senators had this to say about the meeting with Siddiqui:

" 'She seemed calm and composed, and her mind was active and alert,' Mushahid Hussain Syed, head of the Pakistani delegation, told Reuters by telephone from Dallas."

And from a blogger completely sympathetic to Siddiqui:

"On two occasions when Pakistani representatives met her (August 9 and October 6), they reported that she was articulate and okay."

Hmmph...calm and composed, active and alert mind, articulate.  That doesn't sound like someone who is mentally incompetent to stand trial.  The unfortunate aspect of this decision is that it fuels the terrorist-supporters' claims that Siddiqui was abused and tortured, which has apparently led to mental instability. This serves Al Qaeda well.   I suspect Ms. Siddiqui has skillfully played her American psychiatrists. 

Without a trial, we may never know where Aafia was between 2003 and 2008, we may never see the evidence of her involvement with Al Qaeda.  Without a trial, we don't know who's lying and who's telling the truth.  Not a good development.  I hope there are continued hearings on this case.

My previous blogposts on Siddiqui here.

Statement by US Embassy/Islamabad on Aafia Siddiqui

Unlikely to be believed by many in Pakistan or the wider Muslim world, but the U.S. Embassy tries anyway, issuing this statement unequivocally denying that the U.S. had previously detained Siddiqui:

"We at the US Embassy Islamabad have read with increasing concern a number of erroneous and irresponsible media reports regarding the arrest of Ms Aafia Siddiqui."

"We commend the majority of Pakistani journalists for their accurate and balanced reporting and overall professionalism. Sadly, however, a few have allowed rumour, innuendo, and grossly unsubstantiated allegations to dominate their coverage."

"Unfortunately, there are some who have an interest in simply distorting the facts in an effort to manipulate and inflame public opinion. The truth is never served by sensationalism; we believe your readers, as fair-minded and critical thinkers, deserve better."

"Therefore, it’s high time that we set the record straight."

More Conspiracy Theories on Aafia Siddiqui - Al Qaeda Campaign?

Is this an Al Qaeda campaign?  Did Aafia Siddiqui want to get caught?

Hey, why leave the conspiracy theories to the other side? 

Millions of Muslims and anti-American leftists around the world are absolutely convinced that Aafia Siddiqui was really Prisoner 650, "The Grey Lady of Bagram."  That Aafia has been "continuously raped and tortured for five years" by Americans.  That Pakistan's Military Intelligence (MI) handed her over to the U.S. years ago.  That the FBI handed over bounty money to Pervez Musharraf's son. Many of the purveyors of these conspiracies seem to be coming from people who are openly sympathetic to Al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorists, like these guys or these guys.  Why do millions of Pakistanis and Muslims around the world and here in the US believe them?  (Picture below from Getty Images at Daily Life)

Two can play at the conspiracy game.  I've got some conspiracy theories myself:

1) Aafia Siddiqui may have been in a Pakistani witness protection program, and she was outed by the "human rights campaigns" in Pakistan for her.

2) This is an Al Qaeda campaign, and Aafia is being sacrificed or made a martyr.  They've sacrificing Siddiqui to "rally the troops" and create a poster child for future attacks.  The timing of her capture in Afghanistan two weeks after the publicity surrounding "Prisoner 650" from Yvonne Ridley suggests that it was planned. When Siddiqui was arrested, her handbag had all manner of terrorist tools, everything except a shoe bomb and a kitchen sink, it was ridiculous!  But not ridiculous if that was intentional, so that the report about her capture would appear far-fetched.  The Anarchist's Manual? They must have planted the evidence!

The latter theory is actually from the Jawa Report ("Did Aafia Siddiqui Want to Get Caught?"), and it seems plausible to to me.   Aafia is now the poster child for poor, weak Muslim women being brutalized by the evil Americans.  I question the provenance of the picture of Aafia in her blue clothes, closed eyes, chapped lips. Who took that picture and when?  Where did it come from? The photo descriptor says it was taken in a US  court, but articles about the August 11, 2008 court appearance say she was wearing a maroon headscarf. If anyone knows who took it and when, please let me know.

We're in a propaganda war as much as a political and military war, and Al Qaeda has deftly used Western media to put out their  propaganda.  Aafia could be the new Mohammed al Durah, the iconic image that galvanizes protests and inspires attacks around the world.  Who knows what violence will be caused in her name?  The US government better get their side of the story out fast.  With pictures, please. Given the high illiteracy rates in many Muslims countries, we need pictures not press releases.   

Stateside, a Muslim in Charlotte, NC (Samir Khan?) is inciting some violence right now over this matter:

"Petitions, Protests and Letters do not stop our Sisters from getting raped by the Americans, their allies and the Murtadeen."

"We must cut off the hands and feet of those who approach our Sisters and show them only the Mighty banner of Jihaad and Istishaad."

Charming.

I'm happy to see that ABC News had a reasonable in-depth treatment of the Aafia Siddiqui case, you can read about it and see the video here.  According to the ABC story, government officials say that the capture of Siddiqui has led to a "potential 'treasure trove' of information on terrorist supporters, sympathizers or 'sleepers' in the United States and overseas."  Hmmm, given her activities with the Boston Muslim community groups at MIT and elsewhere, maybe some people here are a bit nervous about that.

MIT reported on its famous alumnus here.  Note that in this article, the spokesman for the Bagram airbase explicitly says that Siddiqui was never detained there.  She was treated for her gunshot wounds in July after her capture, but she was never held in detainment at Bagram. 

Aafia Siddiqui Bail Hearing Postponed

Yesterday, a US federal court postponed Aafia Siddiqui’s bail hearing until Sept 3.  This is a huge story in Pakistan and it's generated enormous amounts of ill-will against the Unites States.  (As if there wasn't enough already....) Allegations that the U.S. has detained Siddiqui at the Bagram base in Afghanistan and subjected her to "five years of continuous rape and torture" (per Yvonne Ridley and Caged Prisoners) are assumed to be true by many Pakistanis, not just the "rage boys" and their niqabbed female counterparts.  Lots of Pakistan's intelligentsia and legal types believe it too, along with many millions of Muslims around the world.  Conspiracy theories get a enthusiastic audience in Pakistan and with the world's radical leftists.

Personally, I don't believe that my government has done this.  They may keep things secret during what is essentially a long war, but in my heart, I don't believe that the U.S. government or military detained and tortured Siddiqui.  The fact that Caged Prisoners (reportedly an Al Qaeda organization) has generated so much hatred and anti-American feeling from this allegation in only a few short weeks convinces me even more that this is a fabrication.  It's worked very well for them, as they seek to incite more anti-American sentiment, Islamist activity and chaos in Pakistan.  One might think it was a sort of campaign, in fact. Siddiqui's "capture" came about a week after Ridley's press conference.  Neither Caged Prisoners nor Siddiqui's family has offered a shred of evidence for their claims.  What generates more sympathy than the figure of a small, weak woman who was allegedlt abused by the United States?  Good thing that bullet only wounded her and didn't kill her. 

Thank goodness there will be a trial.  Now we have a prayer of finding out who's lying and who's telling the truth, and where Siddiqui has been, and where her children are.

The Boston Globe covered the story today, here are a few excerpts:

"... yesterday, federal prosecutors in New York alleged that Siddiqui's activism had become extremism. US officials say that the 36-year-old mother of three became an Al Qaeda operative who ended up in Afghanistan and attacked US soldiers who had come to interrogate her."

"...Intelligence officials believe that Siddiqui, considered the world's most-wanted female before her arrest, became affiliated with Al Qaeda while in Boston. Though the FBI had sought her in 2003, she returned to her native Pakistan with her children and went underground before agents found her, according to interviews with US officials and documents from the FBI and the director of national intelligence."

"US officials say she eluded them until last month when she was arrested with an unidentified teenage boy in Ghazni, Afghanistan. Local police caught the two outside the provincial governor's compound with chemicals, maps, and documents on explosives, according to court papers."

" 'They were here for suicide bombing,' an Afghan official in Ghazni told the Globe in a telephone interview last week. 'Both of them were looking like they were prepared for suicide.' "

The Boston Globe article presents an overview of her life, especially the years spent in the Boston area.  Some of the suspicion-raising activities of Siddiqui:

NEFA Publishes Court Documents on Aafia Siddiqui

From NEFA (Nine/Eleven Finding Answers Foundation):

"Last week NEFA added several documents referencing Al-Qaida facilitator Aafia Siddiqui. Those historical documents have been released by the FBI, Special Court of Sierra Leone, Director of National Intelligence, and federal prosecutors."

You can read these documents here. Mighty interesting, they're from a variety of sources, including the today's DOJ complaint, DOJ press releases, a Special COurt in Sierra Leone (Siddiqui was believed to evaluating smuggling diamonds from Sierra Leone to support Al Qaeda), Director of National Intelligence biographies of AL Qaeda operatives, testimony before a U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Huamn Rights, and a filing from the Care International trial in Boston.

Lots to Untangle on the Aafia Siddiqui Story

Good gracious, there's lots to untangle on this story.  Aafia Siddiqui was charged with attempted murder of federal agents this morning in New York this morning.  Related info:

1) Press release from DOJ about arrest of Aafia Siddiqui here. Excerpt:

"NEW YORK- Michael J. Garcia, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Mark J. Mershon, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), and Raymond W. Kelly, the Police Commissioner of the City of New York, announced today the arrest of Aafia Siddiqui on charges related to her attempted murder and assault of United States officers and employees in Afghanistan. Siddiqui arrived in New York this evening and will be presented tomorrow before a United States Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York."

The trial will be in NYC, not Boston.

2) So where has Siddiqui been since 2003?  Some people, including British journalist (former journalist?) and Muslim convert Yvonne Ridley and Pakistani lawyer Iqbal Jafree believe that Siddiqui was given over to the US government by Pakistanis years ago, and she's been in US custody all this time. This information was provided to me in an e-mail by Mr. Jafree, and obivously I can't confim or deny any of it, but here it is:

"yes! you can quote me ++ see the story put on by US Atty for SD of NY this very morning .. which is all baloney. it spilled the forbidden beans (I disclosed that she was in Kabul). This whole story that Aafia Siddiqui tried to shoot FBI agents is sheer fabrication... look up the Press Release from US  South Dist Attorney, NY that they issued as afterthought 6 hrs ago... after I caught them with their panties down. FBI Agents shots her to disable/kill her so that truth is reconstructed. Remember, Law will accept the impossible not the improbable."

"FBI visiting THE DARKNESS PRISON and putting their rifles near the curtain .. for God's sake .. that is improbable, nonsense."

"She has been with CIA Renditioned .. for 5 years. I have moved Islamabad High Court that it order Govt to effect her Recovery and to provide her with finest medical attention.  I am copying this PakiRead Treaty of Friendship between USA Pakistan l959 signed by Ayub Khan and Kennedy."

"YES, YOU CAN QUOTE ME GENEROUSLY. BUT KNOW I AM THE ONE AMERICAN LAWYER WHO IS NOT FOR HIRE BY ANYONE FOR ANY REWARDS OR REMUNERATION."

"I am copying this to Pakistani Atty General Malik Mohammed QAYYUM ([email protected]) you might ask him what he is doing to protect and succour a fellow Pakistani. Some 800 Pakistanis have been illegally handed over to USA for huge bounties pocketed by relatives of bigwigs including Pervez BUSHarraf."

"Remember no person is an island. Violation of any HR is violation of HR everywhere in the global village.  I have stood up for the rights of the unfashionable worldwide regardless of consequences. I was trained in law by Qayyum's father (Qayyum was not!) and I treat law as a noble calling, not for catcalling (which was tried on me by one of Qayyums assistants who fell hard  on his face .. his name is Raja Abdurehman)."

"Pakistan today is a worse state than any Banana Republic."

So where's the truth?  Was Siddiqui in US custody for years, being "continusouyl raped and tortured"?  Or did she show up in Afghanistan two weeks ago outside a government building, her pocketbook filled with "documents relating to explosives, chemical weapons and weapons involving biological materials and radiological agents, along with descriptions of landmarks in New York City and elsewhere in the United States, and liquid and gel substances sealed in bottles and jars"?  And after she was taken into custody on July 17, 2008, she was put behind a curtain in a room with police officers and US agents, when she grabbed a rifle and started shooting??  Frankly, all the stories about Aafia Siddiqui sound fantastic. 

As always, stay tuned.  This is a wild story we have here.

Aafia Siddiqui Extradited to US

I had a feeling this was gonna get hot and heavy....

"NEW YORK (CNN) -- A Pakistani accused of shooting at U.S. officers while in Afghan custody last month has been extradited to the United States, federal prosecutors said Monday."

"Aafia Siddiqui -- who had been sought by the FBI for several years regarding terrorism --- now faces federal charges of attempted murder and assault of a U.S. officer and U.S. employees, federal authorities said."

"Authorities say Siddiqui shot at two FBI special agents, a U.S. Army warrant officer, an Army captain and military interpreters who unknowingly entered a room where she was being held unsecured."

"Siddiqui was behind a curtain and shot at the personnel with an officer's rifle, officials said."

"She fired two shots, but hit no one, officials said. The warrant officer returned fire with a pistol, shooting Siddiqui at least once. She struggled with the officers before she lost consciousness, said officials, adding that she received medical attention."

"The day before the shootings, Afghan police had arrested Siddiqui outside the Ghazni governor's compound after finding bomb-making instructions, excerpts from the 'Anarchist's Arsenal,' papers with descriptions of U.S. landmarks and substances sealed in bottles and glass jars, U.S. officials said Monday."

"The 36-year-old Siddiqui is an American-educated neuroscientist and a suspected al Qaeda operative. If convicted, she faces a maximum of 20 years on each charge."

Wowee.  Does this mean Boston is going to be the home for another major terrorism trial?  Cool! Think of what we'll learn about the Boston terrorist infrastructure from this trial!  I bet even the Boston Globe covers it.

What precipitated the acknowledgement that Siddiqui was in custody in Afghanistan and the extradition?  This seems to be related to the petition for a hearing on Siddiqui filed by Pakistani lawyer Iqbal Jafree about a week ago.  Jaffree also threatened to report Siddiqui's detainment as a human rights violations in Pakistan to the United Nations human  rights commissioner in Geneva, as reported in Geo.

"Siddiqui’s lawyer, Javed Iqbal Jafrey, moved the Islamabad High Court claiming that Siddiqui had been handed over to US security officials by Pakistan authorities without informing the woman’s family. The Islamabad High Court heard the case in its entirety."

"A single bench of the court, head by Chief Justice Sardar Aslam, on Wednesday directed the Interior Ministry to furnish a complete report to the court providing Siddiqui’s full details. The court has adjourned until Sept. 9."

British "journalist" and Muslim convert Yvonne Ridley has publicized Aafia Siddiqu's case recently, referring to her as the Gray Lady of Bagram:

"Ridley said she first learnt about the woman while reading a book by Guantanamo ex-detainee Moazzam Begg. Ridley added that one of the four Arabs who escaped from the Bagram cell in July 2005 also told a television channel that he had heard a woman’s cries and screams in the prison but never saw her. 'I call her the Grey Lady of Bagram because she is almost a ghost, a spectre whose cries and screams continue to haunt those who heard her,' she said.

"The woman is registered as Prisoner number 650 and the US officials can’t deny the fact, Ridley said. 'I demand that the US military free the Grey Lady immediately. We don’t know her identity, we don’t know her state of mind and we don’t know the extent of the abuse or torture she has been subjected to,' Ridley said."

Ridley further claims that Siddiqui has been "physically tortured and continuously raped by the prison officers at Bagram prison."   Of course! Let the spin begin.  CagePrisoners writes that not only did Siddiqui have nothing to do with Al Qaeda funding, but Aafia was a victim of domestic abuse.  She's the victim here. There are many questions about how long she's been held and by who and why.  But the reflexive "she's been raped and tortured" is both predictable and vile. But we're sure to hear a lot of such things in the days to come.

Aafia Siddiqui in Custody in Afghanistan

A former Bostonian who was on the FBI's "Most Wanted List" and "People Wanted for Questioning" is being held in custody in Afghanistan. It's not yet known who is holding her of where her three children are. People who follow the actions of  Islamic radicals in Boston have heard of Aafia Siddiqui, a former MIT and Brandeis student, and mother of three.  Siddiqui was the subject of a Vague magazine feature article in March 2005, written by Deborah Scroggins, who's currently writing a book on women and the war on terrorism.  More on Siddiqui at Wikipedia here and from a 2004 article in the Pakistan Daily Times here.  From today's Boston Globe:

"WASHINGTON - Five years after her disappearance, an MIT-trained Pakistani neuroscientist accused of belonging to an Al Qaeda cell based in Boston, is alive and in custody in Afghanistan, her family's attorney said yesterday."

" 'It has been confirmed by the FBI that Aafia Siddiqui is alive,' said Elaine Whitfield Sharp, a lawyer for Siddiqui's family, who said she spoke to an FBI official on Thursday. 'She is injured but alive, and she is in Afghanistan.' "

"The news sheds some light on one of the most intriguing local mysteries in the war on terrorism."

"Siddiqui, who lived in Roxbury and studied at Brandeis University as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, disappeared with her three children while visiting her parents' home in Karachi, Pakistan, in March 2003, around the same time the FBI announced that it wanted to question her."

"For five years, US and Pakistani authorities have denied knowing her whereabouts. But human rights groups and Siddiqui's relatives have long suspected that she had been captured in Karachi and secretly taken into custody."

Why was Siddiqui wanted for questioning by the FBI?

Did You Know Aafia Siddiqui?

Deborah Scroggins, who wrote an excellent article about Aafia Siddiqui for Vogue magazine several years ago, is working on a book about women and the war on terror, and she recently sent me this e-mail:

"I'm the author of the Vogue profile of Aafia Siddiqui that you mentioned in a recent blog. I'm now working on a book about women and the war on terror that will include at least a chapter and maybe more on Aafia. I was fascinated by the mention of Aafia speaking at the ICNE Halaqas. I would be extremely eager to talk to your sources on that or any other matter concerning Aafia and her circle of friends. Please feel free to pass this message and my email address ([email protected]) along to anyone you feel might be helpful - or simply to post it on your blog!"

Readers, if you knew Aafia Siddiqui back in her Boston/MIT days, or her friends and associates, please contact Deborah directly.  Thanks in advance. 

More 9/11 Readings - MB/MAS/ISB - Aafia Siddiqui

UPDATE BELOW (Pointed questions!)

I'm still in a September 11th frame of mind.  I'm struck that our country still can't clearly, unequivocably name or identify its enemy, six years later.  Some people can, here's what they say:

First, from the esteemed Dr. Zhudi Jasser, founder and Chairman of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy based in Phoenix, Arizona, and former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander, at Family Security Matters:

"On this sixth anniversary of the horrific attacks of 9/11 against our homeland, Americans have yet to focus our crosshairs against what is turning out to be only the beginning of a 'Long War.' ”

"The past six years and the continued viral spread of transnational global Jihad have proven that we are fighting neither a tactic nor a single organization or network. Our enemies metastasize every day because we have yet to mount an offense against the primary cancer cells – the ideology of political Islam and its goals of the theocratic Islamic state."

"Until we, as a nation, collectively engage in this ideological struggle for liberty against the Islamists, our security agencies and our troops will continue to chase their tails. The Islamist terror cells will continue to regenerate. When it comes to Islamism, did we forget that the cornerstone of our nation is political and ideological debate? Our Public Diplomacy program and our domestic engagement of Muslims should be a clinic in the ideological counters to every nation’s Muslim manifestations of political Islam – including our own."

"We cannot allow a political ideology to avoid effective deconstruction simply because it masks itself behind a spiritual path. Ultimately, anti-Islamist Muslims who advocate liberty for all and advocate the separation of the practice of their faith from the administration and laws of government will be the only effective weapon against our enemies."

And from "crunchy con" Rod Dreher, in his column What the Muslim Brotherhood Means for the U.S.:

"....The president apparently missed the smoking-gun 1991 document his own Justice Department introduced into evidence at the Holy Land Foundation trial in Dallas. The FBI captured it in a raid on a Muslim suspect's home in Virginia.  This 'explanatory memorandum,' as it's titled, outlines the 'strategic goal' for the North American operation of the extremist Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan). Here's the key paragraph:'

"The process of settlement [of Islam in the United States] is a "Civilization-Jihadist" process with all the word means. The Ikhwan must understand that all their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" their miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all religions. Without this level of understanding, we are not up to this challenge and have not prepared ourselves for Jihad yet. It is a Muslim's destiny to perform Jihad and work wherever he is and wherever he lands until the final hour comes, and there is no escape from that destiny except for those who choose to slack."

No joke, you can read it for yourself here (page 21).  (I blogged about the MB's "mission statement" earlier here.) Dreher discusses how the MB is going about its long-term goal to "destroy Western civilization" (Wait a minute! That's us!!) from within:

"The entire 18-page platform outlines a plan for the long haul. It prescribes the Muslim Brotherhood's comprehensive plan to set down roots in civil society. It begins by both founding and taking control of American Muslim organizations, for the sake of unifying and educating the U.S. Muslim community – this to prepare it for the establishment of a global Islamic state governed by sharia."

"....The HLF trial is exposing for the first time how the international Muslim Brotherhood – whose Palestinian division is Hamas – operates as a self-conscious revolutionary vanguard in the United States. The court documents indicate that many leading Muslim-American organizations – including the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Muslim American Society – are an integral part of the Brotherhood's efforts to wage jihad against America by nonviolent means."

"The Muslim Brotherhood is an affiliation of at least 70 Islamist organizations around the world, all tracing their heritage to the original cell, founded in Egypt in 1928. Its credo: "Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Quran is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope." Sayyid Qutb, hanged by the Egyptian government in 1966 as a revolutionary, remains its ideological godfather. His best-known work, Milestones, calls for Muslims to wage violent holy war until Islamic law governs the entire world."

And the MB's expanding control of Muslim organizations goes on under our noses.  Just this week, this flyer (click to enlarge) was circulated on the Boston Muslim American Society (MAS) e-mailing list, publicizing a fund-raiser for the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) and MAS.  The ISB calls itself a religious organization, but in actuality, the ISB leadership is joined at the hip to the MAS, an overtly political organization.  Anti-US government, anti-Israel, pro-Sami Al-Arian, pro-Hamas, pro-Salah Soltan, pro-Yusuf Qaradawi, a Salafi/Wahabi outlook through-and-through.  Solomonia has done a great job of tracking MAS's politics in his feature, MAS Watch.  And yet here they are, running the show at the Islamic Society of Boston. Why does this small, select group  of people claim speak for "the Muslim community" in Massachusetts?  Who elected them?  Who put them in charge?  Who do they answer to?  Why aren't they scrutinized like other political organizations are? 

Go re-read the MB's mission statement, and ponder what their daughter organization, the MAS, means by "Conveying Islam - Improving Society."   It reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode, To Serve Man......

Am I being over-the-top here?  I think not. And I think Dreher would agree with me:

".... high-profile organizations with roots explicitly in the Muslim Brotherhood have successfully established themselves in a paramount position to define Islam in America according to a radical politicized model. And they've done so without the American public having the slightest idea about their real agenda. Indeed, the Bush administration is unwittingly helping the Islamist cause by including their leaders in public events, thus conferring them legitimacy."  (The "unwitting" help in Boston comes from Mayor Menino, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the Boston Globe, and liberal rabbis, priests and ministers - ed.)

"...As long as they commit no crimes, CAIR, ISNA and the other Brotherhood-related groups have the right to advocate for their beliefs. But they don't have the right to escape critical scrutiny, and they deserve informed opposition. Courageous Muslims like Dr. Zuhdi Jasser of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy are sounding the alarm about radical Islam's stealth takeover of U.S. Muslim institutions. Why are the news media ignoring this? Fear of being called Islamophobic?"

The ISB and Boston MAS leadership need to be called out.  Some questions:

• Are you for a separation of church and state? 
• Do you reject political Islam?
• Do you reject the implementation of sharia law? 
• Do you believe in the equality of all peoples? 
• Do you want to live in a multi-religious, pluralistic society, or do you want Islam to dominate? 
• Do you support freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, including the freedom to leave Islam or to be non-religious? 
• Do men and women have equal rights?   
• Do you support polygamy? 
• How many paying members do you have? 
• Where does your funding come from? 
• What is the background, training and former positions of your directors and trustees?

Feel free to add your own questions to the list. 

* * * * *

UPDATE! - A commenter left a slew of questions, which I'm moving up here:

"The leader of the Boston Muslims is projected to be Imam Shiekh Alhaj Basyouny Nehela. (The man in the red cap.....your earlier blog). The questions to him are:"

"1. Did you participate heavily in the elections (for years) of Islamic Center of New England by taking bus and van loads from Cambridge? (People have pictures and movies of it).
2.When was the last time you held elections in your own Mosque?
3. What was your relation to the Saudis(now gone) who were at Cove apartments in Quincy and for whose children the school was started at the Islamic Center of New England and what financial relationship you had with them? (Their money did not pass thru the accounts of ICNE).
4.What was your relationship with Imam Khalid Nasr before he came to Quincy?
5.Why you do not release your complete biography?
6.What was the Mosque you worked at(at least that is what you tell people) from 1987 to 1997? What were your political affiliations during this period?
7.Do you have a degree, certificate,testimonial to have been trained as an Imam? (R-1 visa stipulates equivalency to a four year US Bachelor's degree. High sounding names of Masters and Ph.D. are fine but the essential degree to enter US....where is it?)
8. Is Sister Sophia your wife? Is she the person who holds Halaqa at the ICNE Sharon for Arab only ladies on Monday mornings (has done so for years.... even when Aafia Siddiqui used to come to the Halaqas and at times address them)?
Is there any paper, any board decision that such activity takes place at the ICNE Sharon? Why is it not advertised on the ICNE web site?"

* * * * *

Pointed questions!  My favorite kind.

Aafia Siddiqui, that name rings a bell......

Oh yes, this former Boston area scientist (she attended Brandeis and MIT) and mother of three, is on the FBI "Seeking Information" list (she was on their Most Wanted List for some time). Vogue Magazine (of all publications!) wrote about this possible "top Al-Quaeda terrorist" in their March 2005 issue (copy posted here).  According to the author, Siddiqui was "drawn into the world of terrorism...through the contacts and friendships she made in the early 1990's working for MIT's Muslims Student Association."