Pakistani Woman Faces Terror Rap In NYC

(AP)  An MIT-educated Pakistani woman once identified as a possible al Qaeda associate has been brought to New York to face charges she tried to kill U.S. agents and military officers during an interrogation in Afghanistan, federal prosecutors said.

Aafia Siddiqui, who was shot and wounded last month during the confrontation, was expected to be arraigned Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan on charges of attempted murder and assault, U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said in a statement. A lawyer for her family said the allegations are false.

Siddiqui, 36, was stopped by Afghan police on July 17 outside a government building, according to a criminal complaint. Police searched her handbag and discovered documents containing recipes for explosives and chemical weapons and describing "various landmarks in the United States, including New York City," according to the complaint, which did not identify the landmarks.

The next day, as a team of FBI agents and U.S. military officers prepared to question her, Siddiqui grabbed a rifle, pointed it at an Army captain and yelled that she wanted blood, prosecutors said. An interpreter pushed the rifle aside as she fired two shots, which missed, they said. One of two shots fired by a soldier in response hit her in the torso.

Even after being hit, Siddiqui struggled and shouted in English "that she wanted to kill Americans" before the officers subdued her, the complaint said.

The family attorney, Elaine Whitfield Sharp, called the charges "a tall story."

Sharp also disputed the U.S. government's earlier claims that Siddiqui had gone underground for several years before her capture. The family suspects that after she vanished with her three children while in Pakistan in 2003, she was secretly held and possibly tortured before U.S. authorities finally brought charges to justify her detention.

"I believe she's become a terrible embarrassment to them, but she's not a terrorist," Sharp said. "When the truth comes out, people will see she did nothing wrong."

At the time of the incident, Afghan officials gave conflicting accounts of what transpired between Siddiqui and the U.S. interrogators. U.S. military officials declined comment.

At a 2004 news conference, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller III identified Siddiqui as one of seven people the FBI wanted to question about their suspected ties to al Qaeda.

U.S. authorities said at the time that Siddiqui had received a biology degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and wrote a doctoral thesis on neurological sciences at Brandeis University, outside Boston, in 2001 before returning to Pakistan shortly after Sept. 11.

Though they never alleged she was a full-fledged member of al Qaeda, authorities said they believed Siddiqui could be a "fixer," someone with knowledge of the United States who supported other operatives trying to slip into the country and plot attacks.

Siddiqui is charged with one count each of attempted murder and assault. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison on each charge.

[exlib97]

she looks real tough now. Typical terrorist. They talk real tough and then run to Pakistan and then get brought back here and given a leftist American hating lawyer.

[mydiatribe]

After a shave and a haircut who knows -- this she might be a he???

Either way, after a fair trial we will just send her back to MOUSHARIFF; no choice with Gitmo closing.

[noloyalisti]

You can''t tell me you actually believe this propaganda from the right wing media. Man, these republicons are even stupider than I thought. Of course since we allowed the war OF terror to start by letting the terrorists in for the profit of American rich and big corporations, they have to continue feeding the sheeple the garbage.

[dowjones20k]

Cant wait to read all the baloney from the kooks ...

Surely this woman is innocent ... MIT educated .. probably at taxpayers expense??? She must be the victim here ... or that is what we will be able to read when all the goofs get on the board ....

Maybe we can even read where this is all a farce and this poor terrorist is just a victim of circumstance and all of this is just a vieled threat to undermine the Constitution??

Surely Americans have no enemies???

I trust the soldier who lost his weapon received some additional training in how to handle an interrogation??

And why did they have guns in the room in the first place during the interview? How about a video ????

At least they are bringing her into a US Court room and maybe all can see for themselves how innocent she is ....

This should be MUST SEE TV !!!

[noloyalisti]

This is just another ridiculous farce that is part of the American war OF terror. Started by big corporations to take over the world. They have done really well so far in this gullible and crumbling country.

[consciousnes]

If she weren''t guilty and they just wanted to get rid of her why didn''t they just use an extra bullit and put it through her head, then there wouldn''t be any trial or questions, she would just disappear?
When you try to do something through our current legal system by the rules, the defense lawyer who is being paid to lie will say anything to get his client off. Otherwise he doesn''t get another job.

[hamiltongrad]

Is is angry about something.

[minnick8-2009]

Just because its your faith that tells you to kill non-believers, that does not mean you are protected by the constitution.

Posted by DaVicar2

No, you aren''t protected for killing, but the constitution does guarantee freedom of religion. And, my faith doesn''t tell me to kill non believers.

[kennedy7955]

The story sounds very convincing, and maybe it is just as it has been told but I doubt it.

[republic1776]

This sound like my Ex.