Captured MIT Grad Linked to Trove of al-Qaeda Secrets
(Newser) – A suspected al-Qaeda operative arrested in Afghanistan last month could provide a treasure trove of intelligence about terrorist sleeper cells in the US and abroad, government sources tell ABC News. MIT graduate Aafia Siddiqui, 36, was captured carrying maps of New York, a list of potential targets, information on chemical weapons, and a cache of emails, according to authorities.
The information found in the Pakistani woman's handbag makes her “the most significant capture in 5 years,” said a former CIA officer. “We knew that she had been involved in the planning of a wide variety of different operations.” In 2004 Siddiqui became the first woman wanted by the government because of links to al-Qaeda.
(Newser) – An MIT-trained Pakistani neuroscientist with suspected al-Qaeda ties has been charged with trying to kill American soldiers and FBI agents while in custody last month, the New York Times reports. Aafia Siddiqui, who disappeared in Pakistan in 2003, turned up in Afghanistan, where she was detained for loitering suspiciously outside a governor’s compound. She was found to be carrying documents on explosives-making and jars of unidentified substances.
The next day two FBI agents and two soldiers entered the police station where, unknown to them, Siddiqui was being held, unrestrained, behind a curtain. When one of the warrant officers set his M-4 rifle down, Siddiqui grabbed it and fired two errant shots before she was wounded and restrained. She is being arraigned in the US.