After being thrown out of a Manhattan courtroom for calling a witness a liar yesterday, attempted murder suspect Aafia Siddiqui promised to behave herself. "I'm going to be quiet," said the MIT- and Brandeis-educated scientist, whose courtroom antics have so far included outbursts and pleas for the use of genetic tests to keep Jews off her jury. "It doesn't mean I agree."
The former wife of an accused 9/11 plotter allegedly grabbed an interpreter's rifle and fired it at U.S. personnel who intended to question her in Afghanistan in 2008. According to the Post, Army Capt. Robert Snyder said Siddiqui's face was a "vision of hatred" when the 37-year-old — who was reportedly detained after being found in possession of notes on bomb-making and a list of possible terror targets — pointed the M-4 rifle at his head. An interpreter wrestled the gun away, and Siddiqui was shot during the incident.
But Siddiqui told the court a very different story, alleging that she has been a U.S. captive since 2003 and was detained in a "secret prison" where her "children were tortured," the tabloid reports. According to an interesting piece in the Guardian, Siddiqui and her supporters claim she was held for five years at the "at the dreaded Bagram detention centre, north of Kabul, where she suffered unspeakable horrors." The army, FBI and CIA all deny keeping her captive before the 2008 incident.
