Taliban and Al-Qaeda Reaction
According to a February 2010 report in the Pakistani newspaper The News International, the Taliban threatened to execute captured U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl, whom they have held since June 2009, in retaliation for Siddiqui's conviction. A Taliban spokesperson claimed that members of Siddiqui's family had requested help from the Taliban to obtain her release from prison in the U.S.
In September 2010 the Taliban kidnapped Linda Norgrove, a Scottish aid worker in Afghanistan, and Taliban commanders insisted Norgrove would be handed over only in exchange for Siddiqui. On October 8, 2010, Norgrove was accidentally killed during a rescue attempt by a grenade thrown by one of her rescuers.
A speaker for the Taliban, Waliur Rehman, announced that they wanted to swap Siddiqui for two Swiss citizens abducted in Balochistan. The Swiss couple escaped in March 2012.
In December 2011, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri demanded the release of Siddiqui in exchange for Warren Weinstein, an American aid worker kidnapped in Pakistan on August 13, 2011.
Read more about this topic: Aafia Siddiqui
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