An MIT-trained Pakistani woman was convicted this afternoon for trying to kill Americans while detained in Afghanistan in 2008.
The tirade-prone Aafia Siddiqui, 37, was found guilty of attempted murder by a jury in Manhattan federal court, even after she denied charges that she had opened fire on US soldiers and FBI agents in Afghanistan.
After the verdict was read, Siddiqui turned to the gallery, pointed her finger in the air and said, “This is a verdict coming from Israel, not America, and that is where the anger belongs. I can testify to this and I have proof.”
Siddiqui, 37, was convicted of two counts of attempted murder, though the crime was not found by the jury to be premeditated. She was also found guilty of armed assault, using and carrying a firearm, and assault of US officers.
Siddiqui faces life behind bars for her crimes.
The Pakistani neuroscientist, who the feds claimed was an al Qaeda associate, was arrested two years ago carrying handwritten plans for a radioactive “dirty bomb” along with a list of New York landmarks.
Federal prosecutors said that when FBI agents went to question her, she picked up an unattended rifle and shot at them. They claim Siddiqui was wounded by return fire.
It took a jury about 13 hours over three days to convict Siddiqui, who became famous for her loud outbursts that often got her kicked out of the courtroom.
Testifying in her own defense, Siddiqui claimed she had been tortured and held in a “secret prison” before her detention. Charges that she attacked US personnel who wanted to interrogate her were “crazy,” she said.
“It’s just ridiculous,” she said at her trial.
In court, Siddiqui veiled her face with a white scarf and often sat slumped in her chair. She openly sparred with the judge and her own lawyers, insisted she could bring peace to the Middle East.
“I was never planning a bombing! You’re lying!” she yelled while an Army captain testified on the first day of her two-week trial.
Despite claims that she was an al Qaeda sympathizer, Siddiqui was never charged with terrorism.
A member of Siddiqui’s defense team said afterward that she disagreed with the verdict.
“In my opinion, it is wrong. There was no forensic evidence and the witness testimony was divergent, to say the least. … This was a verdict based on fear, not on fact,” lawyer Elaine Sharp.
She also said Siddiqui told her this morning that “she does not want there to be any violent protests or any violent reprisals in Pakistan over this verdict.”
Asked about Siddiqui’s comments regarding directing anger toward Israel, Sharp said: “I don’t think she’s saying she wants anybody to attack Israel.”