Afghan Taliban vying for Dr Aafia Siddiqui's release, claims American analyst

WASHINGTON: An American analyst, Michael Kugelman on Sunday claimed that the Afghan Taliban have demanded the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui.

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Dr Aafia Siddiqui is a Pakistani national who was charged by a US court with murder attempts and was sentenced to 86 years in prison.

Talking to ARY News in Washington, after attending a book launching ceremony over Aafia Siddiqui’s trial, Kugelman said, Afghan Taliban have been demanded her [Siddiqui’s] release in the past too.

Terming the release of Ms Siddiqui as one of the biggest demands of the Afghan Taliban for the resumption of peace talks with the US, Michael Kugelman ruled out the release of Dr. Shakeel Afridi in exchange of Dr. Aafia.

According to sources, the Afghan Taliban in the month of March had presented a list of several prisoners, which they want to be released during their negotiations with the US.

Read more: ‘I want to get out of US prison’ – Dr Aafia writes to PM Khan

Sources had informed that Ms Siddiqui’s name was among the top ten names whose release is being demanded by the Taliban.

In November last year, Pakistan’s consul general in Houston met Dr. Aafia at the prison where she handed him over the letter addressed to Mr. Khan.

‘I want to get out of the prison, as my imprisonment in the US jail is illegal,” she had written.