Islamabad. Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has written a letter to US President Joe Biden requesting him to release a Pakistani woman who is serving an 86-year prison sentence in America for terrorism. The government lawyer gave this information to an Islamabad court on Friday. A copy of Sharif’s letter was submitted to the court, which was hearing a petition filed by the sister of US-trained neurologist Afia Siddiqui.
Afia was convicted in 2010 on charges including attempting to murder American citizens. Afia came under suspicion for her involvement in terrorist activities when she left the US and married Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the September 11, 2011 terrorist attacks in the US. In 2008 she was injured in a clash with US authorities in Afghanistan. According to eyewitnesses, he fired at American authorities.
According to a copy of Sharif’s letter sent on October 13, the Pakistan Prime Minister told Biden that Aafia has spent 16 years in jail. He wrote that the case “should be viewed with compassion.” Sharif said that over the past few years, several Pakistani officials have met her diplomatically and expressed serious concerns about the treatment she received, which has had a serious impact on her already fragile mental and physical health. “In fact, they fear she may take her own life,” the Pakistani prime minister wrote, quoting officials’ assessment. He urged Biden to accept the clemency petition of Afia’s sister and order her release on humanitarian grounds.
