US agrees on Aafia Siddiqui’s extradition

By
Azam Butt
-
11
209

 

 

 

In the latest breakthrough, the US has offered Pakistan to sign a prisoner swap agreement for the extradition of Dr Aafia Siddiqi, after which the Pakistani scientist will be allowed to serve the remaining part of her imprisonment in her homeland.

Talking to a private TV channel, the spokesperson of the Foreign Office Umar Hameed also confirmed that the US had offered Pakistan to sign prisoner swap agreement after which both countries would release each other’s prisoners.

According to the documents acquired from the Interior Ministry, the US told Pakistan in written that the only legal way for the extradition of Dr Aafia Siddiqi was to sign the prisoner swap agreement with the US.

The US offered two deals that include European Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and Convention on Serving Criminal Sentences Abroad in this regard, the channel said.

Meanwhile, it was also revealed that the Interior Ministry had formed a task force following the US offer which held its first session on July 3 to review the agreement.

The task force was established under the directives of Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan.

The Pakistani neuroscientist was sentenced to 86 years in prison after she was convicted of grabbing a US soldier’s M-4 assault rifle and trying to shoot a group of FBI agents and soldiers at an Afghan police compound in July 2008, a charge she consistently denied during the trial.

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11 COMMENTS

  2. Just a little correction, Omer Hameed is not spokesman for Foreign Office but spokesman for Interior Ministry. The reporter lacks having some basic info, which matters a lot.

  4. shame on pakistan they ruined afia life now they exchanged their prisonr i m happy about that afiya will soon came there land but still upset for afiya there is nthing left for her

  6. america wants doctor shakeel afridi… americans are loyal with their persons and they can go to any limit to release shakeel afridi

    • Maybe if we can first shoot, beat, rape, torture Dhakeel the b@stard Afridi, kill a few of his children first….then the trade might be debatable!

  7. On the face of it, there is no harm in signing an extradition treaty between the US and Pakistan if that can help Dr Aaafia Siddiqui to be repatriated to Pakistan. She is a Pakistani national and her 'abduction' to the US in 2003 and her 'trial' there leave many a scar on the face of the rulers of Pakistan and that of the US criminal justice system.

    Time has come to bury the past and move onto the future. Let Dr Aaafia be repatriated to her home country and rejoined with her family and children. That would also, hopefully, relieve the US of the world pressure against keeping her in the US. At the same time, the new PMLN-led govt will have a sigh of relief on having fulfilled their commitment to bring back Dr Aafia.

    It is hoped that the PMLN-led govt will put the repatriation issue on its Agenda for talks with Mr John Kerry who is expected to visit Pakistan in a few weeks' time or take up the issue with the State Dept and others without waiting for his visit. Whats needed is expeditious disposal of the issue especially in the light of the order dated 16th May 2013 of the Sindh High Court directing the govt to complete the repatriation process within a reasonable time.

    Our parliamentarians, media and civil society organizations should take it upon themselves to ensure a fair and speedy repatriation of the Daughter of Pakistan and the Muslim Umma.

    Mumtaz A. Piracha
    Founder & Chairman
    Good Governance Forum
    Pakistan
    Email: [email protected]
    Web: http://www.goodgovernanceforum.com
    Blog: http://ggovernance.blogspot.com
    —Leading the Way to the Challenge of Change in Pakistan

  8. "Time has come to bury the past"

    So "Good Governance" = "Mitti Pao Jee"? Think we have that already!!!!

  9. One issue must be settled with USA Govt prior to signing any treaty that she was not a terriorost but innocent woman , all aligations imposed on her were baseless.
    ?
    One more thing after such a brutal harasment she is still mentally fit ????

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