WASHINGTON, July 26: The United States has ruled out any prisoner swap talks with Pakistan involving jailed neuroscientist Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, according to media reports.
“The United States government is not in discussions with the government of Pakistan on a prisoner exchange or transfer involving Dr. Aafia Siddiqui,” State Department spokesperson Marie Harf was quoted as saying in the reports.
She was replying to a question that there were reports that US government had offered Pakistan to sign a prisoner swap agreement for extradition of Siddiqui.
“The Government of Pakistan requested her transfer to Pakistan in 2010 and we are not aware of a recent request from Pakistan to discuss her case,” she said.
Siddiqui was indicted in New York federal district court in September 2008 on charges of attempted murder and assault stemming from an incident in an interview with US authorities in Ghazni in Afghanistan, charges which she denied.
After 18 months in detention, she was tried and convicted in early 2010 and sentenced to 86 years in prison.
Meanwhile, Harf also said that the US has no announcement on Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Pakistan.
“I don’t have any travel to announce at this point. We’ve said repeatedly that the Secretary looks forward to traveling to Pakistan when he can spend some time there discussing a wide range of issues, but I have no travel to announce at this point,” Harf said. (PTI)
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