KARACHI: The sister of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist imprisoned in the US, on Tuesday called on supporters not to lose hope after outgoing US President Joe Biden rejected a petition seeking clemency for the jailed academic.
Siddiqui, a US-trained scientist who denies any wrongdoing, was convicted in 2010 and given a 86-year prison sentence for shooting at FBI agents and soldiers after her arrest in Afghanistan. She was arrested in July 2008 by Afghan police, who said she was carrying two pounds (900 grams) of sodium cyanide and crumpled notes referring to mass casualty attacks and New York landmarks.
The day after her arrest, according to the indictment, Siddiqui grabbed an M-4 rifle in her interrogation room and started shooting while yelling “death to America,” the trial jury heard. No US agents or soldiers were hit, but Siddiqui was shot and wounded in response, according to US prosecutors. She was subsequently convicted by a New York federal jury of attempted murder, armed assault and other charges. Siddiqui was never charged with links to terrorism.
Siddiqui’s family says she was visiting Pakistan in 2003 when she was abducted with her three children by Pakistani intelligence officials and handed to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which took her to Afghanistan. Pakistan’s intelligence agencies deny the claims.
“You must all by now have heard the news that our [mercy] petition was denied at the very last moment,” Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui, who has been lobbying for years for her sister’s release, said in a video message.
The rejection comes in response to a 76,500-word dossier submitted by Siddiqui’s lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, urging Biden to grant her clemency before the end of his term.
“We will go onto Plan B and Plan D but not lose hope. Please, I have not lost hope, so all I am asking you is to please stay steadfast, stay with me, join us for Plan B and please continue the support,” Fowzia added.
In October 2024, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also wrote a letter to Biden, calling for Dr. Siddiqui’s release. The letter highlighted concerns about her treatment in prison and warned that her deteriorating physical and mental health could lead to self-harm.
Freeing Siddiqui or winning her repatriation to Pakistan has at times been a popular cause in her homeland, where her trial was seen as unfair.
Outgoing US president Biden turns down clemency request for Pakistani neuroscientist
https://arab.news/zq8zc
Outgoing US president Biden turns down clemency request for Pakistani neuroscientist
- Siddiqui is serving 86-year jail sentence after being convicted of attempting to shoot group of FBI agents, US soldiers and interpreters
- US officials say incident took place as FBI agents, soldiers were about to interrogate Siddiqui at Afghan police compound in Ghazni in 2008
7,208 Pakistanis freed from Saudi prisons between 2019-2024— foreign minister
- Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered release of 2,107 Pakistani prisoners during his 2019 Pakistan visit
- Approximately 23,456 Pakistani nationals are imprisoned in various countries worldwide, says foreign minister
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday disclosed that a total number of 7,208 Pakistani prisoners have been released from prisons in Saudi Arabia from 2019-2024.
During his visit to Pakistan in 2019, the Saudi crown prince ordered the release of 2,107 Pakistanis jailed in Saudi Arabia for various crimes in response to a request from the then Pakistan government.
Dar shared the data of Pakistanis freed from Saudi jails in a written response to Senator Dr. Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur, who inquired about the progress on the release of those prisoners.
Dar, who also serves as Pakistan’s deputy prime minister, shared that 2,907 Pakistani prisoners under the consular jurisdiction of the Pakistan Embassy in Riyadh were released from 2019-2024. Out of the remaining 7,208 prisoners, 4,301 Pakistanis under the consular jurisdiction of the Consulate General Jeddah were released from Saudi prisons from 2019-2024.
“It is, however, hard to bifurcate/differentiate the number of the prisoners who have been able to avail this clemency under this announcement due to continuous inflow as well as outflow of the prisoners,” the minister said.
Taimur then inquired as to how many Pakistanis were presently imprisoned in foreign jails, based on information provided by Pakistan’s diplomatic missions.
“According to the current data, approximately 23,456 Pakistani nationals are imprisoned in various countries worldwide,” Dar responded.
“The largest concentrations are in the Gulf region, particularly in Saudi Arabia (12,156) and UAE (5292).”
Dar said Pakistan’s foreign ministry is developing a “comprehensive consular policy” through stakeholder consultations to provide protection to its nationals imprisoned abroad.
He said that while this policy is being formulated, Pakistan continues to protect its citizens abroad through international frameworks already in place, such as consular protection mentioned in Article 36 (c) of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963.
“Under this framework, our consular officers: visit Pakistani nationals in prison or 7 detention, converse and correspond with detained nationals and arrange legal representation for them,” the minister said.
Army claims killing Afghan militant accused of involvement in ‘terrorism’ inside Pakistan
- Islamabad blames surge in militancy on fighters operating from Afghanistan, Kabul denies allegations
- Pakistani Taliban frequently target Pakistani forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan provinces
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have gunned down an Afghan national in the southwestern Balochistan province bordering Afghanistan, the military said on Tuesday, accusing him of involvement in “terrorism.”
Islamabad has frequently accused neighboring Afghanistan of sheltering and supporting militant groups that launch cross-border attacks. Afghan officials deny involvement, insisting Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter.
A statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said the Afghan national was identified as Muhammad Khan Ahmedkhel, a resident of Afghanistan’s Paktika province.
“On Jan. 11, 2025, an Afghan national involved in terrorism inside Pakistan was killed in the Sambaza area of Zhob district of Balochistan,” the statement said. “His body was handed over to the Interim Afghan Government officials on Jan. 20 after necessary procedural formalities.”
The army said the incident provided “irrefutable evidence of Afghan nationals’ involvement” in militant activities in Pakistan, urging Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to crackdown on fighters using Afghan soil to launch attacks in Pakistan. The statement did not give any evidence or details of terror activities Ahmedkhel was involved in.
The Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), frequently target Pakistani forces in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, as well as in Balochistan.
Child abuse in spotlight in Pakistan again as police probe killing of minor boy
- Body of Mohammad Sarim, 7, was found in an underground water tank 11 days after he was reported missing
- Nearly 10 child abuse cases a day are reported in Pakistan, according to Sahil which works on child protection
KARACHI: The case of a seven-year-old boy who was missing for over 10 days before his body was discovered in a water tank in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi has put the spotlight once more on child abuse in Pakistan, with a medical report seen by Arab News on Tuesday saying he was subjected to sexual violence before his death.
Nearly 10 cases of child abuse a day are reported in Pakistan, according to Sahil, an organization that works on child protection, with girls disproportionately affected.
In the latest case, Mohammed Sarim went missing on Jan. 7 after leaving home to attend religious lessons at a madrassah inside the apartment complex where he lived. He never returned home, and his body was found in an underground water tank at the same complex on Jan. 18.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Anil Haider told Arab News investigations were being carried out in the case in light of the autopsy report.
“They have written about sexual violence in the report,” he said, saying no arrests had been made so far though police were investigating suspects based on interviews with Sarim’s family members.
“The family did not nominate anyone, but we interrogated whoever they told us to include in the investigation,” Haider added, saying DNA samples of the suspects had been sent for testing to a forensics lab.
According to the medical report seen by Arab News, the boy died at least four days before the body was found, with the hair on his scalp missing in patches and the skin on several parts of his body having been peeled off.
“On the basis of the examination, it is opined that findings are suggestive of anal sexual violence,” the report said, adding that the boy had suffered 12 different injuries and wounds on various parts of the body, which were all “ante-mortem,” or caused prior to death, except for one.
Child abuse is a widespread issue in Pakistan, with perpetrators often turning out to be family members, teachers, or trusted people.
In 2020, Pakistan’s parliament passed a new law against child abuse, two years after the rape and murder of a 7-year-old girl that shocked the country. The national child abuse law introduced a penalty of life imprisonment for child abuse. The law requires police to register a case within two hours of a child’s parents reporting them missing. It also includes measures to speed up the process, including the establishment of a dedicated helpline and a new agency to issue alerts for a missing child.
The new law followed the death of Zainab Ansari, whose body was found in a garbage dumpster in Kasur district near the eastern city of Lahore in 2018, sparking large protests and accusations of negligence by authorities.
Ansari’s case triggered debate in Pakistan over whether to teach children how to guard against sex abuse, a taboo subject in the Muslim majority nation.
Pakistani province bordering Afghanistan to send talks’ delegation to Kabul within two weeks — CM
- Islamabad says it has consistently taken up the issue of cross-border militancy with Kabul
- Afghan Taliban say do not allow Afghan soil to be used by militants against other nations
ISLAMABAD: The chief minister of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said this week he would send a delegation to neighboring Afghanistan within two weeks for discussions on ongoing tensions, including cross-border militancy.
Already strained relations between the neighbors have deteriorated in recent months amid a spike in militant attacks in Pakistan that it blames on insurgents harboring in Afghanistan. Kabul’s Afghan rulers deny state complicity and say they do not allow Afghan soil to be used by militant groups against other nations.
Last year, KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur said he would hold direct talks with Kabul and send an emissary to Afghanistan to arrange a meeting to resolve outstanding issues. At the time, the central government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a main rival of Gandapur’s PTI party that rules KP, said the offer amounted to a “direct attack on the federation” as no province could open talks with a foreign country, which was the jurisdiction of the government at the center.
“Now I will have to play my role. We held a provincial meeting and now I am sending a delegation to Afghanistan soon,” Gandapur told reporters on Monday. “Within two weeks a delegation that I am forming will go to Afghanistan and talk to them [Afghan government].”
A second delegation comprising main tribes from KP province would also visit Afghanistan subsequently, the chief minister added.
“A delegation comprising all tribes will also go and talk to them. I have full faith that they [Afghan authorities] will cooperate with our jirga.”
Islamabad says it has consistently taken up the issue of cross-border attacks with the Taliban administration. The issue has also led to clashes between the border forces of the two countries on multiple occasions in recent months.
In December, the Afghan Taliban said bombardment by Pakistani military aircraft in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province had killed at least 46 people, most of whom were children and women. Just days later, the Afghan defense ministry said Taliban forces targeted “several points” in neighboring Pakistan, further straining tense ties.
Relations between the two countries have also soured since Pakistan launched a deportation drive in November 2023 against illegal aliens residing in the country. Though Pakistan insists the campaign does not only target Afghans but all those residing in Pakistan unlawfully, it has disproportionately hit Afghans, with at least 800,000 repatriated so far.
KSrelief distributes food parcels to people in need in Mali, Pakistan
- Some 500 parcels distributed in Koulikoro region of Mali
- In Pakistan, 1,450 parcels given out in Sindh, KP provinces
RIYADH: Saudi aid agency KSrelief has provided food aid to people in need in Mali and Pakistan, reported the Saudi Press Agency.
Some 500 parcels were distributed in the Koulikoro region of Mali, benefiting vulnerable groups including displaced people and those with disabilities as part of this year’s Food Security Support Project in the country.
Meanwhile, in Pakistan, a further 1,450 food parcels were given out in the Dadu and Sanghar districts in Sindh province and the Torghar district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
