Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked President Joe Biden in a letter to release a Pakistani woman serving an 86-year prison sentence in the United States on terrorism charges, a government lawyer told an Islamabad court on Friday.
Aafia Siddiqui is a U.S.-trained neuroscientist who was convicted in 2010 on charges including attempting to kill U.S. nationals. Siddiqui became a terrorism suspect after she left the U.S. and married a nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a self-proclaimed mastermind of Al-Qaeda‘s September 11, 2001, attacks.
In 2008, she was injured in Afghanistan during a confrontation with U.S. authorities, which witnesses say she shot at.
Sharif’s October 13 letter was submitted to the Islamabad court hearing a clemency petition from Siddiqui’s sister. Siddiqui’s family has long said that she disappeared from Karachi, the capital city of the Pakistani province of Sindh, in 2003, and that former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf secretly handed her over to U.S. officials.
Musharraf was the leader of Pakistan when the country became an ally of the U.S. during its “War on Terror,” which saw American troops invade Afghanistan and Iraq after September 11. His government arrested dozens of suspects and gave them to various governments, including the U.S.
AP Photo/Fareed Khan
Sharif told Biden that Siddiqui had already served 16 years of her prison sentence and that over the years, numerous Pakistani officials visited her and raised serious concerns about how she was being treated, according to the letter seen by the Associated Press.
Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Department of State via online form and the White House via email for comment on Friday.
The prime minister wrote in the letter that Siddiqui’s treatment in prison severely impacted her already weak mental and physical health.
“In fact, they fear that she could take her own life,” Sharif wrote of the Pakistani officials’ assessment.
Sharif wrote that the matter deserved “to be viewed with compassion” and asked Biden to accept the clemency petition and order Siddiqui’s release on humanitarian grounds.
Siddiqui’s “family, and millions of my fellow citizens join me in seeking your blessings for a favorable outcome of this request,” he wrote.
In October 2014, Siddiqui tried to have her conviction overturned, arguing in court papers that she was forced to use lawyers paid for by the Pakistani government.
Her efforts, however, were unsuccessful as a federal judge in New York rejected Siddiqui’s request.
The U.S. Department of State said on its website that while Pakistan has taken some action to counter terrorism, there is more work to be done.
“On counterterrorism and internal security, Pakistan has taken some action against militant groups and UN [United Nations]-designated terrorist organizations in accordance with its National Action Plan against terrorism. However, the implementation of UN sanctions against these entities is uneven,” the State Department wrote.
It continued: “The United States continues to urge Pakistan to take decisive action against these groups while seeking opportunities to work together with Pakistan in areas of mutual interest, such as counterterrorism and border security.”
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
