Dr Aafia Siddiqui “does not want to come back to Pakistan” and reports of her possible repatriation are “mere chatter”, Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said on Tuesday.
Dr Faisal, in an interview with Independent Urdu, said that “she (Dr Aafia) will not come back. She does not want to come back herself, as per the information I have.”
The FO spokesperson said that the only way the possibility of Dr Aafia’s return could arise is if Prime Minister Imran Khan and US President Donald Trump met in the future.
In that case, “the exchange of Aafia Siddiqui for Shakeel Afridi could come under discussion,” he added.
Dr Aafia’s sister Dr Fouzia contested the FO spokesperson statement, telling Independent Urdu that “if anyone says that Aafia herself does not want to come to Pakistan, it is completely untrue.” She also confirmed that the consulate office in Houston had met Aafia last month.
Dr Fouzia further said that “at one point it had seemed as if Aafia was going to come to Pakistan any moment.” She said that she had been reassured by the government that negotiations with the US were ongoing and that “there will be a good news between January and March, but now silence has set in again.”
“Aafia told me on the phone that she is ready to sign any document, and that she only wants to get out of jail somehow,” Dr Fouzia was quoted as saying.
It is pertinent to mention here that last year, Dr Aafia’s sister, Dr Fouzia, had requested Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to take up the matter with the US.
The foreign minister had said that the issue of Dr Aafia’s repatriation was “being considered”, following which Consul General in Houston Aisha Farooqui had met Dr Aafia and urged the US to “respect her human and legal rights”.