 (APP): The head of a visiting delegation of Pakistani senators has called for the immediate release of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui from US detention after a long meeting on Tuesday with her in a Texas facility where she is undergoing psychological evaluation.
"Vell, Doctor! Haff you finished your evaluation off der patient?"
"Yes, Doctor!"
"Und your diagnosis?"
"She's a loon! The symptoms are classic!" |
Mushahid Hussain Sayed, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told APP by telephone that the four-member delegation had 2-1/2-hour meeting with Dr. Siddiqui, the US-educated Pakistani neuroscientist, at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) at Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas.
"Dr. Siddiqui? It's us. The delegation of Pak senators!"
"Welcome, Senators! And how is Josephine?" |
Ms. Siddiqui, 36, who was shot in the abdomen by an American agent after allegedly grabbing a US soldier's gun during questioning in July, was brought to New York on August 4 to face charges of attempted murder and assault.
"You're charged with attempted murder and assault! How do you plead?"
"Ha! You can't put me on trial! I just won the Battle of Austerlitz!"
"I guessed that, from the uniform." |
US District Judge Richard Berman last week ordered that Ms. Siddiqui must undergo a month-long medical assessment, treatment and psychological examination before a special competency hearing to determine if she is "medically fit and mentally competent" to stand trial.
"Why do I get all the loop-loops?"
"I dunno, Judge. What should we do with her horse?" |
"We call for her immediate repatriation to Pakistan," Mushahid said, pointing out that no terrorism charge has been brought up against her.
| "Attempted murder ain't terrorism. We do it all the time back in Pakistain! It's a national passtime!" |
He said her human rights were being violated.
| "She's got a human right to fight the Austrians at Marengo!" |
The Pakistani MPs delegation included Senator S M Zafar, Senator Saadia Abbasi and Senator Talha Mahmood.
| Of course they're trying to get her sprung. She inducted them into the Legion of Honor. |
Mushahid thanked Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, for facilitating the meeting with Dr Siddiqui and for sending a senior diplomat Faqir Asif Hussain to accompany the delegation. He also thanked the Pakistan Embassy in Washington for the efforts it has been making to ensure Dr. Siddiqui's fair trial and in seeking urgent medical treatment for her.
"She's being poisoned, you know!"
"Right. And what might the symptoms be?"
"Her food taster's dead." |
In Washington, Faqir Asif Hussain said that Dr. Siddiqui, who was pleased to meet the delegation, appeared in a good state of mind and in better physical health than when he met her in August in New York. But she was anxious that her rights were protected and she received a fair trial and have an attorney enjoying her confidence. Dr Siddiqui told the delegation that charges pending against her were not true.
On behalf of the embassy, Asif Hussain assured her that Ambassador Haqqani and his team of diplomats are striving for her repatriation to Pakistan on humanitarian basis. She thanked the embassy for the support extended to her.
| "We thank the delegation! As soon as Perfidious Albion has been driven from the Peninsula there will be choice dukedoms for each of you!" |
The embassy representative said the mission was working with the Justice Department and other US authorities to ensure that her rights were protected and would pursue her need for medical treatment.
| "We're talkin' a pretty significant dosage increase here." |
According to Faqir Hussain, the stomach infection she complained of was gone and her bullet wound was on the mend.
| "On the other hand, being dropped on her head doesn't seem to have helped her a bit." |
Asked as to what was Dr. Aafia's biggest concern, Faqir Hussain felt she wanted to go back to Pakistan at the earliest and was concerned about her children. She is also concerned about strip searches.
| "She dudn't want nobuddy to see the Imperial pee-pee." |
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The Senate was told on Friday that 1,264 Pakistanis had been detained over the last three years in various countries for carrying fake documents and visas. Replying to a question by Senator