Pak govt. to take all action to defend Aafia: Minister

Islamabad, Feb.12 (ANI) : The Pakistan government would take all necessary step needed to defend Dr. Aafia Siddiqui during the final hearing, State Minister of Foreign Affairs Malik Ammad said.

Siddiqui, a trained neuroscientists, has been indicted by a Manhattan court on terrorism charges.

Addressing the National Assembly (NA), Ammad said all evidence against Aafia is insubstantial, and the government is pledged to work for her safe release from American jail.

"It was due to the government's efforts that a delegation of Pakistani politicians succeeded in meeting Aafia. It is because of our government that she was able to contact her family. This way, her son was recovered, and three well reputed legal experts hired on her request," he said.

Earlier, senior Pakistan Muslim League-Qaid (PML-Q) leader Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat urged the government to take firm steps.

"The Aafia issue would not be resolved by making fiery speeches in the house, and burning effigies of the US president on the streets," The Daily Times quoted Hayat, as saying.

He said the government should constitute a parliamentary delegation comprising seasoned parliamentarians from both houses, so that it can visit the US to hold talks with the US administration over the issue.

Aafia has been charged for firing at American investigators in Afghanistan in July 2008, and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 6.

Last week, a New York court found her guilty on charges related to the attempted murder and assault of US nationals and US officers and employees in Afghanistan. (ANI)