US indifference towards Aafia's medical needs 'cruel': lawyer

According to the letter, she said, the results of a DNA test showed the boy's DNA "was consistent with that of a potential offspring of Aafia Siddiqui." More tests are being done, the letter said, and they should be completed this week. US authorities also compared a passport photo of Dr Siddiqui's son, Mohammed Ahmed, to the boy held in Afghanistan and believed they appeared to be the same person. He was born in Boston and was therefore an American citizen, it said. "The child is an American citizen, he is not a Pakistani citizen," Ms Fink said. She said the State Department should collect the child from the Afghan authorities.

Both the boy and Dr Siddiqui, a 36-year-old MIT-trained behavioural neuroscientist, were picked up by Afghan National Police earlier this month. When she was apprehended, the prosecution claimed Dr Siddiqui had in her possession maps of New York, a list of potential targets that included the Statue of Liberty and Times Square, and detailed chemical, biological and radiological weapon information that has been seen only in a handful of terrorist cases.

Ms Fink's press conference was organised by the Dr Aafia Siddiqui Defence Committee. Ryan Hancock, a Philadelphia-based civil rights attorney and spokesman for the committee, said his group was a loose-knit collection of civil rights attorneys and Pakistani-Americans who believe the United States' case against Dr Siddiqui is purely political. Pakistani activists, carrying placards demanding justice and release of Dr Siddiqui, arrayed behind Ms Fink as she welcomed the proposed visit of Pakistani parliamentarian to meet their incarcerated compatriot. Pressure by the government of Pakistan would also help, she said, adding that she favoured Dr Siddiqui's repatriation to Pakistan.