Pak Embassy did not pursue Aafia's case properly

ISLAMABAD – The Government’s lack of interest, despite its tall claims for early release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, can be judged from the fact that no one from Pakistan’s Embassy attended Dr Aafia’s hearing in the New York court that convicted her of late, in spite of the fact that all allegations levelled against her were proven wrong, TheNation learnt reliably.
According to eyewitnesses, it was awful to see that during the entire course of trial, not a single official from Pakistani Embassy was present in the court on part of the Government of Pakistan to observe proceedings.
Dr Fouzia, sister of Dr Aafia, when contacted, told TheNation that the US Ambassador Hussain Haqqani had not presented true picture of Dr Aafia’s case to Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani. She said it was so surprising for her family when they came to know that diplomatic seat in the courtroom was vacant. “I personally contacted the Prime Minister regarding such odd situation, and on his directions one of the Pakistani diplomats in last few days of the trial attended the proceedings half-heartedly,” she said and added that Hussain Haqqani attended hearing only on the second last day, which was not understandable for them.
She further informed that Dr Farooq Sattar asked her through a message to avoid public mobilisation in Karachi. She said, “During a protest rally held recently, we faced many hurdles in spite of the fact that rally was on the declared route. We also changed our route of rally that was held in the favour of Dr Aafia,” she lamented.
Responding to a question, she said, “I found out that no one from the Pakistan embassy had been in the court room. Bailiff and other court officials told me that it was shameful that the seat reserved for Pakistan Embassy’s official remained empty throughout the hearing of Aafia’s case.”