March 30, 2003	Sunday	Muharram 26, 1424

WASHINGTON, March 29: The FBI has issued a worldwide search notice for a woman of Pakistani origin for her alleged connections with the Al Qaeda network.

Aafia Siddiqui is the first woman suspected of being an Al Qaeda operative in the United States, agency officials told Dawn on Saturday.

She is a 31-year-old mother of three and lived in Boston before she disappeared, the FBI says. Ms Siddiqui has a doctorate in neurological science and has studied at MIT, Brandeis University, and in Houston. She was born on March 2, 1972, in Pakistan.

Although Aafia Siddiqui’s whereabouts are unknown, the FBI believes she is currently in Pakistan.

The agency says that she’s a “fixer” who moves money to provide logistical support for terror activities. She is also tied to radicals in Pakistan.

FBI officials say that being a woman helps Ms Siddiqui, as few would suspect a western-educated woman with children as a terrorist. Siddiqui’s three children are ages nine months through six years.

The FBI says that Ms Siddiqui may have been providing logistical support to Adnan El Shukrijumah, a 27-year-old Saudi man sought by the agency on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks in the United States.