TEXAS: Pakistani consul general in Houston Aisha Farooqui met Dr Aafia Siddiqui in Texas prison and rejected the death rumours circulating on social media about the imprisoned scientist.
The consul met Siddiqui Carswell detention facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The meeting, which lasted for two hours, was the fourth in 14 months, Farooqui told the media.
Earlier, rumours on social media suggested that Aafia Siddiqui has passed away in the US prison. “Reports circulating on social media were baseless,” Farooqui said.
Siddiqui was indicted by a New York federal district court in September 2008 on charges of attempted murder and assault stemming from an incident during an interview with the US officials in Ghazni, Afghanistan, charges which Siddiqui denied.
After 18 months in detention, she was tried and convicted in early 2010 and sentenced to 86 years in prison.
Earlier, her sister and Aafia Movement Pakistan founder Dr Fauzia Siddiqui on Sunday rejected the ‘rumours’ regarding Dr Aafia’s death.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Dr Fauzia said that such rumours may be a preemptive measure to divert the outrage of the people against Dr Shakeel Afridi’s possible escape from Pakistan to the United States.
She said that in such devastating times, such rumours are extremely disturbing for her and the family which is praying for her safe return back to the country. Dr Fauzia said that the rumours, which she hoped to be untrue, seem to contain an element of malice.
She further said that she established contact with Pakistan’s Consular General in Texas Aisha Farooqi who maintained that she has not heard back from the local prison authorities, therefore, she could neither confirm nor deny any such information.
She maintained that she is relying on the information being provided to her by the government authorities, including Pakistan’s Consul General in Texas, Houston.
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