ISLAMABAD - Finally, the conditions of prisoners’ swap deal likely to be signed between the US and Pakistan for the extradition of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, has come to the surface.
According to the documents acquired by a private TV channel, the US has asked Pakistan to admit that Dr Aafia is a terrorist and her conviction by the US court is justified, making it compulsory for her extradition to complete the remaining part of her imprisonment in Pakistan. Under the deal, the US has also forced Pakistan to admit that she was arrested from Afghanistan for trying to shoot three American soldiers.
The deal has also clarified that only those prisoners will be exchanged, who have been found guilty by the courts, adding that prisoners like Dr Shakil Afridi would be exempted from the agreement since he was not born in the US.
Earlier, it was found that the US had offered two deals – European Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and Convention on Serving Criminal Sentences Abroad – for the extradition of the neuroscientist.
Meanwhile, it is revealed that the Interior Ministry has formed a task force following the US offer, which held its first session on July 3 to review the agreement. The task force was established under the directives of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.
The Pakistani neuroscientist was sentenced to 86 years in prison after she was convicted of grabbing a US soldier’s rifle and trying to shoot a group of FBI agents and soldiers at an Afghan police compound in July 2008, a charge she consistently denied during the trial.