Aafia Siddiqui's Son
The case of Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani woman currently being held on attempted murder charges in a New York federal prison, keeps getting curiouser and curiouser. Today's Washington Post contains an article which answers one question, but leaves many other questions still hanging out there. The one hard answer has to do with the location of Ms. Siddiqui's son, who was with her when she was picked up by the US in Afghanistan.
The 12-year-old son of an American-educated Pakistani woman whom U.S. authorities have linked to al-Qaeda has been handed over to Pakistani authorities in Afghanistan and is soon to be reunited with family in Pakistan, Afghan and Pakistani officials said Monday.
The boy was detained in Afghanistan along with his mother, Aafia Siddiqui, in July, and his fate since then has been one of the many unanswered questions about his mother's case. Siddiqui is now in New York facing federal charges.
It appears that the boy was adopted by Aafia Siddiqui after his own parents were killed in a Pakistani earthquake. Because he was born in the US, he holds dual US-Pakistani citizenship, a fact which apparently flummoxed Afghani and US officials when it came to what to do with the boy. As a result, the boy has remained in Afghani custody since she was picked up by US authorities. Where, and under what conditions, is still not clear, but in early US press accounts of this whole affair it was made clear that Ms. Siddiqui was understandably frantic about his well-being.
We still haven't been told where Ms. Siddiqui was for the three years she disappeared (many believe she is the "Gray Lady of Bagram", held by the US and tortured during that time), and there still is no information on the whereabouts of her other two children who went missing with her.
I suspect that the US authorities who arrested her and who have charged her do know, and if they didn't know by the time they picked her up in July, they surely must know by now. Here's the clue which lit my suspicion:
After their detention, the boy remained in Afghan custody while Siddiqui was flown to the United States. U.S. officials visited the boy in late August to check on his welfare and ascertain that he is a U.S. citizen, according to a State Department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
I have absolutely no doubt that the US officials asked him at that time, if the Afghan officials detaining him hadn't already. I also imagine that it wasn't a very pleasant experience for the child. After all, the US is holding children who were his age or close to it when picked up and shipped to Guantanamo Bay.
We still, however, are left with more questions than answers, and I don't think we will get those answers any sooner than Ms. Siddiqui's trial, if then.
The 12-year-old son of an American-educated Pakistani woman whom U.S. authorities have linked to al-Qaeda has been handed over to Pakistani authorities in Afghanistan and is soon to be reunited with family in Pakistan, Afghan and Pakistani officials said Monday.
The boy was detained in Afghanistan along with his mother, Aafia Siddiqui, in July, and his fate since then has been one of the many unanswered questions about his mother's case. Siddiqui is now in New York facing federal charges.
It appears that the boy was adopted by Aafia Siddiqui after his own parents were killed in a Pakistani earthquake. Because he was born in the US, he holds dual US-Pakistani citizenship, a fact which apparently flummoxed Afghani and US officials when it came to what to do with the boy. As a result, the boy has remained in Afghani custody since she was picked up by US authorities. Where, and under what conditions, is still not clear, but in early US press accounts of this whole affair it was made clear that Ms. Siddiqui was understandably frantic about his well-being.
We still haven't been told where Ms. Siddiqui was for the three years she disappeared (many believe she is the "Gray Lady of Bagram", held by the US and tortured during that time), and there still is no information on the whereabouts of her other two children who went missing with her.
I suspect that the US authorities who arrested her and who have charged her do know, and if they didn't know by the time they picked her up in July, they surely must know by now. Here's the clue which lit my suspicion:
After their detention, the boy remained in Afghan custody while Siddiqui was flown to the United States. U.S. officials visited the boy in late August to check on his welfare and ascertain that he is a U.S. citizen, according to a State Department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
I have absolutely no doubt that the US officials asked him at that time, if the Afghan officials detaining him hadn't already. I also imagine that it wasn't a very pleasant experience for the child. After all, the US is holding children who were his age or close to it when picked up and shipped to Guantanamo Bay.
We still, however, are left with more questions than answers, and I don't think we will get those answers any sooner than Ms. Siddiqui's trial, if then.
Labels: Aafia Siddiqui
posted by Diane at 4:01 AM
4 Comments:
It appears that the boy was adopted by Aafia Siddiqui after his own parents were killed in a Pakistani earthquake. Because he was born in the US, he holds dual US-Pakistani citizenship, a fact which apparently flummoxed Afghani and US officials when it came to what to do with the boy.
You are falling into the same trap that the New York Times and others have about this boy. At least you are in good company. There is no way a boy can both be Aafia Siddiqui's biological son (as the DNA testing showed), the reason for the dual citizenry, and simultaneously be an orphan from the Pakistani earthquake that she adopted in 2005.
The Pakistani earthquake story is what the boy told the Afghan authorities. His aunt says he has told her they changed his identity so many times in the last few years that he doesn't know exactly who he is.
The three governments involved do, they know he is her biological son, born in Cambridge Massachusetts, and his name is Mohammed Ahmad. There are larger issues at stake: if they present a clear picture of his identity, then they are in violation of several international laws because his age is then below 12, which is the age they claim "Ali Hasan" is.
Thanks for keeping up on this, and helping to keep Aafia Siddiqui's case alive. She needs all the help she can get. You are doing a very good thing.
Lord, give me strength, these bastards!
When will we know Aafia's story? Where are her other 2 children? These disgusting men are some women's husbands. They should be hung by their testicles when we find out the truth.
I can only pray that Aafia's ordeal and suffering will provide witness and relief for the many other unknowns who have shared her fate at the hands of Blackwater operatives in Cental Asia.
I am posting my article on her with a picture of her now that I managed to find.
It is through posts like your own that we manage to uncover this atrocity. Getting justice for her and the rest is another matter.
All the best.
http://fiddleferme.blogspot.com/search/label/Aafia%20Siddiqui
That is dark face of american laws.
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