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An MIT-educated neuroscientist terrorist known as 'Lady al Qaeda' was named on a 'laundry list' of demands from ISIS captors holding James Foley named, it was revealed today.
Petite mother-of-three Aafia Siddiqui is currently serving 86 years in a Texas jail after being arrested with plans for a 'mass casualty attack' in the US, including infecting people with Ebola and a dirty bomb.
But President Barack Obama's administration point blank refused to consider releasing Siddiqui, or handing over a $132 million ransom, according to the New York Times. Karachi-born Siddiqui, 42, attended two New England universities. She gained a PhD from Brandeis and then trained as a neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
She founded the Institute of Islamic Research and Teaching while living in the U.S.
Mother-of-three Siddiqui, who is 5 ft. 4 in. and weighs just 90 lb, was on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorist list after 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed mentioned her name during his 2003 interrogation.
Siddiqui, who is divorced from her first husband is now married to Ammar al-Baluchi, one of the 9/11 masterminds, who is currently being held in Guantanamo. He is the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Burqa-clad Siddiqui was arrested in Ghanzi, Afghanistan in 2008 after a local saw her poring over a map. He became suspicious as most women in that country are illiterate.
When she was held she had detailed plans on how to kill by spreading Ebola, making a dirty bomb and even a theoretical chemical weapon that somehow spared children while killing adults. She also had two pounds of highly toxic sodium cyanide hidden in her bag and documents detailing potential New York targets for attack including Wall Street, the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and the subway system.
The documents also showed the Plum Island Animal Disease Center on Long Island Sound, New York - which was used for biological weapons testing during the Cold War - as another potential target.
During interrogation the day after her arrest she grabbed a rifle that had been left on a table and started shooting at her questioners. She failed to hit them but she was shot in the stomach as they returned fire.
Author Deborah Scroggins, who wrote a book about Siddiqui, calls her the 'poster child for jihadists around the world.'
'I doesn't surprise me that ISIS should call for her release, even though she is associated with al-Qaeda, because they want to take over al-Qaeda's mantle,' she told MailOnline.
'What better way to establish your bona fides than to exchange a prisoner for the jihadist's icon?'
Scroggins, whose book, Wanted Women: Faith, Lies, and the War on Terror was published in 2012, points out that Siddiqui received an 86-year jail sentence despite never harming anyone, and it has never been fully explained whether her plans were realistic or just in her head. Siddiqui was only charged with two counts of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and three counts of assault. She was brought to the U.S. for trial which lasted for 14 days in January and February 2010.
'She was only tried for firing a gun at U.S. personnel overseas and Congress had just passed a law, going back to the attacks on the embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam, that said anyone trying to kill U.S. personnel would get special strict sentencing,' said Scroggins.
During her trial she said she loved both the United States and Islam. Her lawyers pleaded for leniency due to mental issues, but she said: 'I am not paranoid. I do not agree with that.'
'I do not want any bloodshed. I do not want any misunderstanding. I really want to make peace and end the wars,' she said during her trial.
Siddiqui - prisoner number 90279-054 - is currently held in the Federal Medical Center in Carswell, Texas, which specializes in treating inmates with mental health issues. She is not due for release until August 8, 2083.
Scroggins added: 'She is definitely closely involved with the highest levels of al-Qaeda, but the fact is she has never been convicted of killing or injuring anyone, but she has become a cause celebre in the jihadist movement.'
Her 86-year sentence, imposed by U.S. District Judge Richard Berman, led to violent protests in her home country of Pakistan. Thousands of protestors burned tires in Lahore, and police had to fire teargas to quell riots in her hometown of Karachi. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani called Siddiqui 'the daughter of the nation' and begged U.S. authorities to release her.
While Obama did swap five Taliban prisoners in exchange for suspected deserter Bowe Bergdahl, who was freed on May 31 to huge controversy,Obama authorized a daring rescue mission over the July 4 weekend that failed in the Syrian desert.
At least five ISIS militants were killed and one American soldier was wounded as the raid failed because the terrorists had moved Foley and other hostages including Miami journalist Steven Sotloff away from the base in Syria's northern Raqqa province.
Scroggins said the question of whether Siddiqui's release would be a real threat is doubtful. 'But exchanging her would have been a PR disaster for the Obama administration.'
She pointed out that the prisoners released in exchange for Bergdahl had not been convicted and tried in a U.S. court as Siddiqui was.
Her release would certainly have been perceived as a tremendous victory for the jihadist forces,' said Scroggins.
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Petite mother-of-three Aafia Siddiqui is currently serving 86 years in a Texas jail after being arrested with plans for a 'mass casualty attack' in the US, including infecting people with Ebola and a dirty bomb.
But President Barack Obama's administration point blank refused to consider releasing Siddiqui, or handing over a $132 million ransom, according to the New York Times. Karachi-born Siddiqui, 42, attended two New England universities. She gained a PhD from Brandeis and then trained as a neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
She founded the Institute of Islamic Research and Teaching while living in the U.S.
Mother-of-three Siddiqui, who is 5 ft. 4 in. and weighs just 90 lb, was on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorist list after 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed mentioned her name during his 2003 interrogation.
Siddiqui, who is divorced from her first husband is now married to Ammar al-Baluchi, one of the 9/11 masterminds, who is currently being held in Guantanamo. He is the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Burqa-clad Siddiqui was arrested in Ghanzi, Afghanistan in 2008 after a local saw her poring over a map. He became suspicious as most women in that country are illiterate.
When she was held she had detailed plans on how to kill by spreading Ebola, making a dirty bomb and even a theoretical chemical weapon that somehow spared children while killing adults. She also had two pounds of highly toxic sodium cyanide hidden in her bag and documents detailing potential New York targets for attack including Wall Street, the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and the subway system.
The documents also showed the Plum Island Animal Disease Center on Long Island Sound, New York - which was used for biological weapons testing during the Cold War - as another potential target.
During interrogation the day after her arrest she grabbed a rifle that had been left on a table and started shooting at her questioners. She failed to hit them but she was shot in the stomach as they returned fire.
Author Deborah Scroggins, who wrote a book about Siddiqui, calls her the 'poster child for jihadists around the world.'
'I doesn't surprise me that ISIS should call for her release, even though she is associated with al-Qaeda, because they want to take over al-Qaeda's mantle,' she told MailOnline.
'What better way to establish your bona fides than to exchange a prisoner for the jihadist's icon?'
Scroggins, whose book, Wanted Women: Faith, Lies, and the War on Terror was published in 2012, points out that Siddiqui received an 86-year jail sentence despite never harming anyone, and it has never been fully explained whether her plans were realistic or just in her head. Siddiqui was only charged with two counts of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and three counts of assault. She was brought to the U.S. for trial which lasted for 14 days in January and February 2010.
'She was only tried for firing a gun at U.S. personnel overseas and Congress had just passed a law, going back to the attacks on the embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam, that said anyone trying to kill U.S. personnel would get special strict sentencing,' said Scroggins.
During her trial she said she loved both the United States and Islam. Her lawyers pleaded for leniency due to mental issues, but she said: 'I am not paranoid. I do not agree with that.'
'I do not want any bloodshed. I do not want any misunderstanding. I really want to make peace and end the wars,' she said during her trial.
Siddiqui - prisoner number 90279-054 - is currently held in the Federal Medical Center in Carswell, Texas, which specializes in treating inmates with mental health issues. She is not due for release until August 8, 2083.
Scroggins added: 'She is definitely closely involved with the highest levels of al-Qaeda, but the fact is she has never been convicted of killing or injuring anyone, but she has become a cause celebre in the jihadist movement.'
Her 86-year sentence, imposed by U.S. District Judge Richard Berman, led to violent protests in her home country of Pakistan. Thousands of protestors burned tires in Lahore, and police had to fire teargas to quell riots in her hometown of Karachi. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani called Siddiqui 'the daughter of the nation' and begged U.S. authorities to release her.
While Obama did swap five Taliban prisoners in exchange for suspected deserter Bowe Bergdahl, who was freed on May 31 to huge controversy,Obama authorized a daring rescue mission over the July 4 weekend that failed in the Syrian desert.
At least five ISIS militants were killed and one American soldier was wounded as the raid failed because the terrorists had moved Foley and other hostages including Miami journalist Steven Sotloff away from the base in Syria's northern Raqqa province.
Scroggins said the question of whether Siddiqui's release would be a real threat is doubtful. 'But exchanging her would have been a PR disaster for the Obama administration.'
She pointed out that the prisoners released in exchange for Bergdahl had not been convicted and tried in a U.S. court as Siddiqui was.
Her release would certainly have been perceived as a tremendous victory for the jihadist forces,' said Scroggins.
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