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Pakistani Scientist Set for Trial in US

   VOA News 19 January 2010
   In this undated file photo originally released by the FBI on April 23,
   2003,  Aafia  Siddiqui  is shown. Jury selection began ,Wednesday, Jan
   13,  2010,  at  federal  court  in New York where Siddiqui is on trial
   accused of grabbing a U.S. Army officer's rifle in

Photo: AP/FBI

   Undated file photo of Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui

   The trial of a Pakistani neuroscientist accused of trying to kill U.S.
   personnel in Afghanistan is set to begin in New York Tuesday.
   Aafia  Siddiqui  is  facing  attempted  murder  charges  for allegedly
   grabbing  a U.S. serviceman's gun and shooting at FBI agents while she
   was detained for questioning in Afghanistan in 2008.
   The U.S.-educated scientist was shot in the exchange.
   U.S.  prosecutors  say  Siddiqui was detained in the Afghan provincial
   town  of  Ghazni  carrying documents on how to make explosives and the
   use of chemical weapons, as well as descriptions of U.S. landmarks.
   Siddiqui  is refusing to cooperate, and was removed from the courtroom
   last week after interrupting proceedings.
   Her  lawyer  says she has a mental disorder, but a judge has ruled she
   is mentally fit to stand trial.
   U.S.  authorities have accused Siddiqui of helping al-Qaida operatives
   sent  to the U.S. by Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of
   the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
   Siddiqui is not facing terrorism charges.
   In  2003,  Siddiqui  disappeared  with  her three children on a family
   visit  to Pakistan. Some human rights activists have suggested she was
   secretly held at the U.S. Bagram air base in Afghanistan.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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