US promises to review imprisonment of Dr Aafia Siddiqui: FO

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The United States has promised to look into a request made by Islamabad to review Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s imprisonment in view of respecting her human and legal rights.

Pakistan has been raising the issue with the US on a regular basis, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Wednesday.

Siddiqui has been behind bars since 2010 on charges of attempted murder and mounting an assault on US military personnel and is serving an 86-year sentence at the Federal Medical Centre, Carswell, Fort Worth in Texas.

The issue was also raised by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Tuesday’s meeting with US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells.

“Pakistan’s Consul General in Houston Ayesha Farooqui regularly visits Siddiqui to inquire on her wellbeing, as well as, to convey any of her messages to family,” the FO statement read.

FM Qureshi is also set to meet Siddiqui’s sister in Islamabad soon.

On Tuesday, Siddiqui had penned a letter addressed to Prime Minister Imran Khan pleading her innocence and calling for him to help in her release.

FO sources had confirmed that Siddiqui gave the letter to Farooqui when she had come to visit her at the correctional facility in October.

“You [Imran] have always lent your support to my release in the past, You have also always remained by hero,” the letter read.