Thaindian News

New York, Feb 15(ANI): Pakistan did hand over alleged Al-Qaeda suspect Dr Aafia Siddiqui to the United States, suggests a new audio recording of a senior Pakistani police official.

The recording has been released by the International Justice Network, which represents the Siddiqui family in the US, and says it has spent the past 14 months researching the circumstances surrounding the unusual arrest and custody of the Pakistani mother of three.

“Supported with previously unreleased evidence, IJN has uncovered direct involvement by Pakistan agencies in the disappearance of Dr. Aafia and her three young children in March 2003- five years before the US government claims she was first arrested in Afghanistan in July 2008,” the human rights organisation said in a press release.

“The report- Aafia Siddiqui: Just the Facts- reveals shocking new evidence that contradicts official statements from governments of both Pakistan and the United States that Dr. Siddiqui was not detained in their custody prior to her arrest in 2008,” it added.

In the secret audio recording, a senior Pakistani police official admits that he was personally involved in the arrest of Siddiqui and her three children eight years ago.

IJN said that this account is corroborated by substantial documentary evidence and witness testimony, which all points to the same conclusion that Siddiqui and her children were initially arrested in March 2003 “with the knowledge and cooperation of local authorities in Karachi, Pakistan, and subsequently interrogated by Pakistani military intelligence (ISI) as well as US intelligence agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).”The audio recording has not been independently verified. (ANI)