Pakistani Taliban has vowed to bring back Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a US-trained Pakistani neuroscientist accused of firing at US soldiers and FBI agents in Afghanistan in 2008 as she tried to escape from their custody by force. Dr Aafia was handed a 86-year sentence by a federal court in Manhattan, US, on September 23.
Aafia Siddiqui, also known as 'Lady Al Qaeda', is a Pakistani national who was convicted in 2010 by a New York City federal court of attempting to kill US military personnel. She is currently serving an 86-year sentence at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell, in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Taliban claimed that Siddiqui's family had approached the Taliban network through a Jirga seeking their assistance to put pressure on the US to do justice with her.
During the trial, Assistant US Attorney Jenna M Dabbs told the District Court in Manhattan that Dr Aafia had snatched an army soldier's M-4 assault rifle, which he had placed on the floor of a second-floor office at the Afghan police compound; burst from behind a curtain in the office; and attempted to shoot the assembled agents and soldiers.
British citizen Malik Faisal Akram, 44, from Blackburn, was shot dead after a standoff with police in Colleyville, Texas.
Backing India's concerns over the slow pace of progress in the 26/11 case in Pakistan, United States President Barack Obama on Thursday asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif why the trial of Mumbai attackers has not started.
There is no chance of the case against Devyani Khobaragade being dropped, but a plea deal is possible, which could avoid a jail term for the Indian diplomat, sources in the US government tell Rediff.com's George Joseph in New York.
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