Aafia Siddiqui – a Pakistani neuroscientist who was convicted for felony in 2010 and is serving a 86-year sentence in Texas, U.S. – doesn’t want to return back to Pakistan, Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal has claimed on Tuesday in an interview with Independent Urdu.
“She herself does not want to come back home [Pakistan], according to what I have heard,” the FO spokesperson said, adding that the only chance Dr Aafia has of returning is if Prime Minister Imran Khan and US President Donald Trump meet in the future.
He further said Pakistan has been inspecting the prospects for her repatriation.
Dr Faisal went on to say if the meeting takes place then Aafia’s exchange for Dr Shakeel Afridi could be mulled over.
He expressed satisfaction over Pakistan’s foreign policy, and asserted that following a possible change of government in India after the general elections, relations could improve between Pakistan and India.
However, contrary to what the FO spokesperson has claimed, Aafia’s sister Fowzia Siddiqui has rejected his statement as “completely baseless”.
“If someone says that Aafia herself does not want to return back to Pakistan, then this is a baseless claim,” she said.
Fowzia recalled that the government had alluded to ‘good news’ by March’s end regarding Aafia’s return, but now silence is being observed [from their side].
In November 2018, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi met Fowzia and assured her of possible assistance for her repatriation and take up the matter with the U.S.
