Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Taliban threaten to execute Hailey soldier

Exchange demanded for Pakistani convicted of attempted murder in U.S.


By TONY EVANS
Express Staff Writer

The fate of Hailey soldier Bowe Bergdahl is now linked to that of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist convicted last week in a U.S. court for the attempted murder of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. A Taliban leader threatened Friday to kill Bergdahl, who was captured last year in Afghanistan, if Siddiqui and 21 Afghan prisoners are not released.

Bergdahl was captured June 30, by the Taliban near Patika, Afghanistan. Since then, his captors have released two videos of him on the Internet. The last one was on Christmas Day.

The English-language PakTribune news Web site reported Friday from Peshawar, Pakistan, that a senior Afghan Taliban commander called newspaper sources from an undisclosed location and threatened to kill Bergdahl if their demands were not met.

"The family and friends of Bowe Bergdahl are watching this disturbing development very closely," said Lt. Col. Tim Marsano, public affairs officer for the Idaho National Guard, and official liaison officer for the Bergdahl family.

"They continue to deal with the situation as best they can," he said.

The PakTribune reported that members of Siddiqui's family had sought help from the Taliban after she was convicted Wednesday by a Manhattan jury of attempting to murder U.S. soldiers while in custody in Afghanistan in July 2008.

"Being Muslims, it becomes our religious and moral obligation to help the distressed Pakistani woman convicted by the U.S. court on false charges," the Taliban commander was quoted as saying. He also claimed Bergdahl had admitted to participating in several raids in Afghanistan.

"Since he has confessed to all charges against him, our Islamic court had announced death sentence for him," the Taliban commander said.

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The New York Times reported last week that Siddiqui, a U.S.-educated neuroscientist and Pakistani citizen, was described in 2004 by Robert Mueller, director of the FBI, as "an al-Qaida operative and facilitator."

The Times reported that Siddiqui and her three children vanished in Pakistan in 2003. She then turned up in Ghazni, Afghanistan, in 2008 at the provincial governor's compound. Her eldest child was with her. The location of the other two is unknown. Siddiqui was then taken into custody in Ghazni after local authorities became suspicious of her loitering outside the provincial governor's compound.

During a 14-day trial in January in New York City, prosecutors said that while she was in custody, Siddiqui grabbed an M4 rifle from a police station floor and fired on U.S. Army officers and FBI agents. She was shot in the abdomen during the exchange of gunfire.

The Taliban's demand for release of Afghan prisoners and Siddiqui in exchange for Bergdahl's life drew attention to her conviction, which led to protests last week by thousands of political and social activists and students in Karachi, Pakistan.

Bergdahl was raised in Blaine County near Hailey. He is a member of the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska.

He is the only U.S. soldier held in captivity in the eight years of conflict in Afghanistan. Some experts believe he is being held in Pakistan.

"The family continues to take comfort in the words and actions of friends and neighbors in the Wood River Valley," Marsano said.

Tony Evans: tevans@mtexpress.com




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