MANHATTAN — A Pakistani neuroscientist was convicted in Manhattan federal court Wednesday of attempting to kill Americans while she was detained in Afghanistan in 2008.
Aafia Siddiqui, 37, was found guilty by a jury on charges that she picked up a machine gun and fired at American soldiers and FBI agents in Afghanistan.
The trial was marked by repeated courtroom outbursts by Siddiqui, who shouted out again Wednesday before being taken away.
"This is a verdict coming from Israel not America," Siddiqui said in court after the verdict was read. "That's where the anger belongs. I can testify to this. And I have proof."
Siddiqui's lawyer Elaine Sharp told the New York Daily News the anti-semitic comments were the rantings of a women who had been held in solitary confinement for 18 months.
Siddiqui testified in her own defense during the trial, claiming she had been tortured and held in a “secret prison” before her detention.
Investigators claimed the MIT-trained Siddiqui was an al Qaeda associate when she was arrested two years ago carrying handwritten bomb-making plans, chemicals and a list of New York City landmarks.
Prosecutors said Siddiqui grabbed a rifle off of a table at an Afghan police station and began firing at soldiers and FBI agents. No one was injured, but Siddiqui was wounded when soldiers returned fire.
Siddiqui faces up to 60 years in prison after being convicted on two counts of attempted murder and one count of armed assault.
