Aafia’s son handed over

12 year old Mohammad Ahmed one of Dr Aafia Siddiqius children has been handed over to Pakistani embassy officials in Kabul.

It is of note that when she was picked up in Karachi her sons were 7 and 5 years old respectively with her daughter being 8 months old. It is believed that the daughter is still in custody of Afghan officials and is now 5 years old while her other son has passed away.

The mystery of her alleged capture a few days before extradition to the U.S, while her family and lawyers claim which is supported by local newspapers of her pickup 5 years ago from Karachi remains to be solved. Dr Aafia is current undergoing trial in the U.S at which even the trial judge has expressed astonishment as to the speed of her extradition to the U.S remarking ” it usually takes longer for prisoners to move between u.s states”

A U.S official quoted in the NYT has said that Dr Aafia has proved to be a treasure trove of information. I wonder how long it takes the U.S interrogators to pump a suspect for information as they seem to have worked this poor woman for more than 5 years. She is alleged to have married Khalid Shaikh Muhammad’s nephew which is her biggest and only crime to date it seems.

The whole country of Pakistan is furious at her and her children’s suffering, with calls from all political fronts to acquire them back to their family. At least a minor victory has now been achieved in this respect. However the truth still lies buried with Aafia as to what she really went through and whether she is indeed responsible for the charges against her. Even if she is responsible it is an utter outrage that she was allegedly raped and kept in a cage in the mens area of the detention center naked during her 5 year stay in various us secret holding centers as reported by British journalist “Yvonne Ridley” to the world.  It is horrendous that she is even now being accused of trying to murder American personal while in custody when the poor woman cannot even walk. She is also accused of plotting to blow up dirty bombs in U.S subways.

I think it is the responsibility of a nation to its citizens to guarantee their safety and the U.S has utterly turned away from its responsibility. It now seems to me that a U.S citizen is only guaranteed their full rights if they are not of the Islamic faith. The rest are just guilty until proven innocent.

Below is a video of the press conference after her alleged capture, considering how she and her son are being treated at this press conference I can only shudder to think of what they went through behind closed doors. If experts in counter terrorism want to know why militancy is born this case is a good example of how Jihadists use ill treatment of prisoners like Aafia to then brainwash people into committing mass murder. trust me the outrage being felt in Pakistan at this woman’s humiliation and trial will just have the effect of a ton of TNT into an already roaring fire not the other way around.