Protests are continuing in Pakistan after a US court jailed a Pakistani scientist for attempted murder.
Aafia Siddiqui was sentenced on Thursday to 86 years for trying to kill US government agents in Afghanistan in 2009.
Reports said about 100 people took to the streets in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi on Friday following protests overnight after news of the sentence.
Pakistan's prime minister called the sentence unfortunate and said he would take the matter up with US officials.
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| Fowzia Siddiqui, sister of Aafia Siddiqui, speaks during a news conference on September 23. AFP |
Prosecutors in New York called Siddiqui an al-Qaeda sympathiser and sought life imprisonment.
She was being interrogated by US officials in Afghanistan when she grabbed a rifle and opened fire, shouting "death to Americans", the court heard.
A unanimous jury found her guilty in February of attempting to murder US and Afghan military personnel.
Prosecutors used notes she was carrying at the time of her arrest, which included references to constructing dirty bombs and a list of New York City landmarks, as evidence that she was a potentially dangerous terrorist.
She was also carrying sodium cyanide, a toxic substance, the court was told.
Siddiqui's lawyers argued she was mentally ill.
The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Karachi says many questions about Aafia Siddiqui remain unanswered -- most notably five years between 2003 and 2008 when she disappeared.
The BBC correspondent says many Pakistanis believe she was kidnapped by the US authorities with the help of Pakistan's security agencies, allegations both countries deny.
Siddiqui is a neuroscientist who had studied at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US before returning to Pakistan and marrying a relative of accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the court heard.
Her case attracted attention from human rights groups amid claims from her family that she had been tortured.
Plea for peace
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| Pakistani human rights activists march toward the US embassy during an anti-US protest in Islamabad on September 23. AFP |
Siddiqui was vocal during her trial, which resulted in her ejection from the courtroom on several occasions.
In a statement before the court on Thursday she denied allegations she had been tortured while in jail in the US. "This is a myth and lie and it's being spread among the Muslims," she said.
"I do not want any bloodshed. I do not want any misunderstanding. I really want to make peace and end the wars."
After sentencing, demonstrators in Pakistan took to the streets in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar, burning US flags and effigies of US leaders.
They chanted anti-American slogans, and demanded that the US reverse its decision.
Siddiqui's sister, Dr Fowzia Siddiqui, said the sentence would "prove to be harmful for the US, in every way".
"This decision proves that the system of justice, that the US believes is its pride, is no longer effective. This is the beginning of the decline of the US. God willing, I will definitely bring Aafia back home," she said.
Courtesy BBC |
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