From The Times

August 6, 2008

'Al-Qaeda woman' Aafia Siddiqui' in court on attempted murder charge
James Bone in New York and Zahid Hussain in Islamabad

An American-educated neuroscientist who is the only woman accused of working for al-Qaeda’s top leadership appeared in court in New York last night after her capture in Afghanistan.

The US Government alleges that Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani mother of three with a biology degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctorate in behavioural neuroscience from Brandeis University, near Boston, is married to the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the man who claims to have organised the September 11 terror attacks in 2001.

She is charged with attempted murder and assault for allegedly trying to kill an American interrogator in a gun battle after she was arrested outside an Afghan government compound with a handbag full of chemicals and information on chemical, biological and radiological weapons, as well as descriptions of “various landmarks” in the United States.

Her trial should shed light on the mystery surrounding her disappearance with her children from the Pakistani city of Karachi in 2003. Her family claimed that she was abducted and imprisoned in a secret US detention centre. Six human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have listed her as a possible “secret detainee”.

This is not really news since the arraignment occurred during the height of our election campaign last summer. However, there are more recent events, as outlined in a KOS diary--

In March 2009, a US court concluded that her "mental disease" rendered her unfit for trial. The federal prosecutors disagree, claim that she is faking any mental illness. The court will hold a hearing this June on her competency to stand trial. One child was with Dr. Siddiqui when she was captured in Afghanistan but the other two children are still missing.