The Strange Case of Aafia Siddiqui 
This matter is not going to go away for a variety of reasons.
- The Bush Administration calls her the world’s most dangerous terrorist
- It’s a fascinating and mysterious case.
- U.S. authorities say Aafia is a senior al Qaeda "facilitator".
- But she’s charged with assault and the attempted murder of American soldiers abroad – not with any act of terrorism.
- She disappeared suddenly on March 30th. 2003, shortly after leaving her parents’ home in a taxi, with her 3 children.
- Considerable misinformation about her has been surreptitiously leaked by U.S. officials, thus compounding the mystery and heightening speculation.
- No information about the taxi driver has been forthcoming. And no one knows for sure where her children are. (At the time that she vanished, one was a babe-in-arms).
- Her disappearance has since become a cause celebre in Pakistan, where activists say the Musharraf government arrested and secretly detained her in 2003 at the behest of the United States.
- Popular speculation in Pakistan has it that the Musharraf government handed her over to American authorities, who rendered her to a notorious Afghan prison at their giant airbase at Bagram.
Background
Dr. Aafia, as she is known in Pakistan, studied for a year in Houston Texas, where her brother is a doctor.
She then took an undergraduate degree in biology at MIT in Boston.
After graduating from MIT she enrolled in a doctoral programme at Brandeis University, where she studied cognitive neuroscience — the study of human behaviour, — particularly in children. Unnamed FBI and CIA sources have told gullible journalists and amateur analysts that she is a microbiologist.
Aafia Siddiqui’s life after receiving her doctorate was affected by a series of circumstances, which – combined with her devotion to Islam – brought her to the attention of the FBI.
It all began after 9-11, when employees at FleetBostonFinancial bank, flagged what they felt was a
suspicious pre-9/11 transaction. Aafia’s husband had made a debit card purchase of night vision goggles and body armour about 3 months before the attacks in New York.
This – naturally – raised suspicion at the FBI.
At least some of that suspicion stemmed from the couple’s tenuous connection to two Saudi nationals one of whom had financial dealings that in a post-9/11 world set off warning bells. Workers at Fleet reviewing past bank transactions reportedly flagged as suspicious, some that occurred just months before the attacks.
In July 2001, two Saudi students, Abdullah Al Reshood and Hatem Al Dhahri, had taken over Khan and Siddiqui’s apartment lease when the couple decided to move. Around that time, Al Reshood received a $20,000 wire transfer from the Saudi government. (That raised more FBI suspicions). Those were later allayed, however because a Saudi official later explained that the $20,000 was sent by the Saudi government to Al Reshood to pay for medical treatment for his wife.
Despite the FBI suspicions, both Khan and his wife Aafia were released after questioning.
Shortly after that they both returned to Pakistan at the insistence of the husband.
Although the marriage was already in trouble, they made another attempt at establishing themselves in the U.S., but by August of 2002, the marriage had reached the breaking point
and they again returned home. Shortly after that her husband divorced her.
Aafia returned once more to the U.S. on her own – for job interviews at a number of universities and hospitals. The FBI accuses her of opening a suspicious postal box at that time. Her family says the post box was to receive replies from potential employers. The FBI says it was to receive al Qaeda messages.
After completing the series of job interviews, Aafia returned home and lived at her Mother’s home until March 30 2003, when she left to visit another family member.
She was not seen again until this year on July 17th, when U.S. authorities say she was arrested by Afghan police, while "loitering near a government building".
Her lawyers contend the U.S. explanation is an elaborate fabrication intended to justify past actions in the "war on terror".
There will be more to come.
