Who is Aafia Siddiqui, whose launch was demanded by Texas hostage-taker?

The man who authorities say was holding hostages inside a Texas synagogue on Saturday demanded the discharge of a Pakistani girl who’s imprisoned close by on fees of attempting to kill American service members in Afghanistan.

The girl, Aafia Siddiqui, is serving an 86-year jail sentence after being convicted in Manhattan in 2010 on fees that she sought to shoot US army officers whereas being detained in Afghanistan two years earlier.For the Justice Department, which had accused Siddiqui of being an al-Qaida operative, it was a major conviction within the struggle in opposition to worldwide extremism. But to her supporters, a lot of whom believed in her innocence, the case embodied what they noticed as an overzealous submit September 11-American judicial system.Here’s a more in-depth take a look at the case:WHO IS AAFIA SIDDIQUI?She’s a Pakistani neuroscientist who studied within the United States at prestigious establishments — Brandeis University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.She attracted the eye of American legislation enforcement within the years after the Sept. 11 assaults. Top FBI and Justice Department described her as an “al-Qaida operative and facilitator” at a May 2004 information convention by which they warned of intelligence displaying al-Qaida deliberate an assault within the coming months.In 2008, she was detained by authorities in Afghanistan. American officers mentioned they present in her possession handwritten notes that mentioned the development of so-called “dirty bombs” and that listed varied areas within the US that might be focused in a “mass casualty attack.”Inside an interview room at an Afghan police compound, authorities say, she grabbed the M-4 rifle of considered one of a US Army officer and opened hearth on members of the US workforce assigned to interrogate her.She was convicted in 2010 on fees together with making an attempt to kill US nationals exterior the United States. At her sentencing listening to, she gave rambling statements by which she delivered a message of world peace — and likewise forgave the choose. She expressed frustration at arguments from her personal attorneys who mentioned she deserved leniency as a result of she was mentally in poor health.“I’m not paranoid,” she mentioned at one level. “I don’t agree with that.”WHAT WAS THE REACTION?Pakistani officers instantly decried the punishment, which prompted protests in a number of cities and criticism within the media.The prime minister on the time, Yousuf Raza Gilani, referred to as her the “daughter of the nation” and vowed to marketing campaign for her launch from jail.In the years since, Pakistani leaders have overtly floated the thought of swaps or offers that might lead to her launch. People rally demanding the discharge of Aafia Siddiqui, who was convicted in February 2010 of two counts of tried homicide, and who’s at the moment being detained within the US throughout International Women’s Day in Karachi, Pakistan, Tuesday, March 8, 2011. (AP Photo)Faizan Syed, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Dallas Fort-Worth Texas, mentioned the group considers Siddiqui to have been “caught in the war on terror” and in addition to a political prisoner who was wrongly accused by flawed proof. He nonetheless strongly condemned the hostage-taking, calling it mistaken, heinous and “something that is completely undermining our efforts to get Dr. Aaifa released.”She has additionally garnered help from accused militants within the United States. An Ohio man who admitted he plotted to kill US army members after receiving coaching in Syria additionally deliberate to fly to Texas and assault the federal jail the place Siddiqui is being held in an try to free her. The man, Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud, was sentenced in 2018 to 22 years in jail.WHAT’S THE LATEST ON SIDDIQUI’S IMPRISONMENT?Siddiqui is being held at a federal jail in Fort Worth, Texas. She was attacked in July by one other inmate on the facility and suffered critical accidents, in line with court docket paperwork.In a lawsuit in opposition to the federal Bureau of Prisons, Siddiqui’s attorneys mentioned one other inmate “smashed a coffee mug filled with scaling hot liquid” into her face. When Siddiqui curled herself right into a fetal place, the opposite girl started to punch and kick her, leaving her with accidents so extreme that she wanted to be taken by wheelchair to the jail’s medical unit, the swimsuit says.Siddiqui was left with burns round her eyes and a three-inch scar close to her left eye, the lawsuit says. She additionally suffered bruises on her legs and arms and an harm to her cheek.The assault prompted protests by human rights activists and non secular teams, calling for improved jail circumstances. The activists have additionally referred to as on the Pakistani authorities to struggle for her launch from US custody.