The Hindu : International : `Terror lady' in U.S. custody, says Pakistan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 30, 2004

International

International

`Terror lady' in U.S. custody, says Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, MAY 29. Pakistan's Interior Ministry has claimed that Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani-American woman who was declared as a terrorist threat (to the U.S.) by the FBI, had been arrested in 2003 from Karachi and handed over to the U.S. authorities.

This is contrary to the reports suggesting that Dr. Siddiqui had gone underground for past several years and she was wanted by the U.S. The Dawn quoted a Ministry spokesman as saying that she had been handed over to the U.S. because she had ``kept her U.S. nationality''.

The spokesman said that Ms Siddiqui was also wanted in Pakistan because the country was one of the major coalition partners of the U.S. in the war against terrorism.

The paper quoted another Interior Ministry official as saying that in the U.S., Ms Siddiqui was accused of delivering anti-U.S. speeches and ``preaching jihad''. Later, she was declared a ``dangerous terrorist'' by the FBI, he said, while confirming that she had visited Pakistan in 2003 and had spent a few days in Islamabad. According to the paper, Ms Siddiqui holds a doctorate in technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she was a bright student.

Dangerous operative

Meanwhile, a report from Washington said Ms Siddiqui was among seven ``dangerous'' Al-Qaeda operatives identified by Washington as the planners of new attacks on the U.S. this summer. Ms Siddiqui, the only woman whose name figured in the suspected terrorists' list released by the FBI yesterday, is an ``operator and facilitator'' of Al-Qaeda, the FBI Director, Robert Mueller, said.

The seven ``dangerous'' suspects can plan and facilitate an attack on the U.S., he said. The Attorney General, John Ashcroft, who warned that Al-Qaeda is planning to ``hit U.S. hard'' in the next few months, said the seven are linked to a ``disturbing'' threat this summer. — ANI/PTI

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