Pakistan’s leader calls on Biden to secure release of a woman serving lengthy prison term

Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A lawyer says Pakistan’s prime minister has written to U.S. President Joe Biden to request the release of a Pakistani woman who is serving an 86-year prison sentence in the U.S. for terrorism charges. The letter from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was submitted to a court in Islamabad that was hearing a petition from the sister of Aafia Siddiqui, a U.S.-trained neuroscientist who was convicted in 2010 on charges including attempting to kill U.S. nationals. According to a copy of Sharif’s letter, dated Oct. 13, seen by The Associated Press, the prime minister informed Biden that the woman had already served 16 years in prison. He wrote that the matter deserved “to be viewed with compassion.”