August 11, 2008	Monday	Sha’aban 8, 1429

KARACHI, Aug 10: A rally was staged here on Sunday for the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui from the custody of US intelligence agencies which have put her on a trial in the United States for her alleged links with Al Qaeda.

Dr Aafia is also facing the charge of attacking US soldiers in Afghanistan. She was reported to have been detained for about five years in a US camp in Afghanistan before being flown to the United States recently.

Participants of the rally, organized by Pasban, marched through various roads before converging on the press club, where Pasban chief Altaf Shakoor spoke to them. Carrying portraits of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, as well as banners and placards inscribed with the demand for her release, the protesters raised slogans against the US and Pakistan governments.

Mr Shakoor criticised the prime minister for not taking up the issue with the US authorities during his recent visit to the United States. He said the doctor should have been put to trial in Pakistan if she really was a suspected Al Qaeda contact or had attacked Americans in Afghanistan.—PPI