Pakistan to seek Dr Aafia’s return
* Foreign Office expresses dismay over ‘unexpected verdict’ in detained neuroscientist’s case
* Says ultimate objective is repatriation of Dr Aafia
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will take all steps to secure the release and return home of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist who stands convicted by a US court for shooting at her US interrogators in Afghanistan, according to the Foreign Office on Thursday.
Aafia, 37, was convicted in a New York court on Wednesday for grabbing a US officer’s rifle while she was being questioned in 2008 in Afghanistan and firing at FBI agents and military personnel as she was wrestled to the ground. The jury gave a unanimous verdict on seven counts, including attempted murder and assault. Though guilty on two attempted murder counts, the jury said the crime was not premeditated. Aafia is a US-trained neuroscientist who spent years living in the US.
Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told a regular briefing the government would do its best to secure Dr Aafia’s release.
“The ultimate objective is to get her back to Pakistan and we would do everything possible and we’ll apply all possible tools,” said Basit.
FO disappointed: He also expressed dismay over the “unexpected verdict” in Aafia’s case. He said the government would consult Aafia’s family and a team of defence lawyers to determine the future course of action.
He said Pakistan had made “extensive diplomatic and legal efforts” on Aafia’s behalf. He said the president, the prime minister and the foreign minister had already taken up the matter at various levels of the US administration for her release on “compassionate grounds”.
SOURCE : Dailytimes.com.pk
