August 13, 2008	Wednesday	Sha’aban 10, 1429

NEW YORK, Aug 12: That the lawyers representing Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist accused of attempting to kill an American soldier while in US custody in Afghanistan, did not seek her immediate release on bail by a New York Federal Court on Monday surprised most people here.

Instead of seeking bail, the lawyers asked the court to order immediate medical treatment for Ms Siddiqui who was in pain and suffering from injuries.

“She needs to be taken out of custody and put in a hospital. She’s been here... for one week and hasn’t seen a doctor,” Elizabeth Fink, her court appointed lawyer, said.

Highly informed sources here told Dawn that the defence lawyers had been told by the prosecuting US attorney’s office that the bail amount would be ‘huge and prohibitive’.

“Let me just say no amount of bail money would satisfy the US authorities who are convinced of Aafia’s Siddiqui’s guilt and have proof about her involvement in the Al Qaeda terror network and other illegal activities,” one officials here said on condition of anonymity.

Asked as to why she did not ask Magistrate Judge Robert Pitman to set her bail, Ms Fink who made an impassioned appeal for her immediate release last week, hedged the question suggesting “there was more to it than meets the eye”.

Ms Elaine Sharp, the Boston attorney hired by her family years ago similarly evaded the question when asked by a battery of reporters why the defence team did not press for Ms Siddiqui’s bail. “What’s the point of bail”, she said, adding her medical treatment was now the priority.

Ms Fink decried that her client had not received proper medical care since being shot in the alleged incident on July 18.

Ms Sharp said her client was a physical wreck following both the shooting and a five-year period of her disappearance. “She has gunshot wounds to the abdomen – we are not sure how many – and a long line of stitches from her breast plate to her belly button. She understands she lost part of her intestines. Digestion is an issue. She’s reporting bleeding.”